Saturday

I wasn’t too worried about being unable to get to The Home early today. Mum was due to be coming out of a Sleepy phase so the later I left it the more awake she was likely to be. The sweet spot was probably going to be the last hour of the day shift which would give me the chance to get an update from the team that had been looking after her all day.

Reggie was talking to one of his colleagues when I arrived.

“Hey! Nick! I was going to text you today,” he said, “Your prediction that Iris would be asleep all day yesterday was spot on!”

“That’s a relief. She won’t have noticed that I didn’t visit her then. How’s she been today?”

“Still very sleepy” his colleague replied, “Except when we brought her something to eat or drink”

“She’s eating already? That’s interesting. That’s much more like how Mum used to be before she was ill. She always had a healthy appetite.”

I hadn’t met this carer before so I explained Mum’s Sleepy/Active cycle to her so she knew how I was able to predict that Mum was going to be unresponsive yesterday.

Reggie told her that I had a new title. “Lord” Gilmore after something Audrey had said on Thursday. We chatted about the strange conversations we’ve had with her.

I don’t know why but I said I couldn’t work out what Audrey had done for a living in ‘real life’. Reggie told me.

“Wow! I would never have guessed that! I mean she obviously did something high powered but I would never have guessed that in a million years!”

Mum was barely awake when I got to her. She was Unhappy, Uncomfortable and Uncommunicative which is all standard for Day One of her cycle. What little she said was unintelligible apart from “You won’t leave me on me own will you?” which is also standard for Day One.

“Are you feeling a bit stiff and sore Mum?”

She nodded weakly. I didn’t add that it was hardly surprising as she’d been asleep since Thursday and hadn’t moved a muscle in all that time.

“It’s been a funny old day today Mum. It’s absolutely lashed down with rain all day. The Dog took me on a long walk and I got soaked to the skin. She always chooses a long walk when Lesley’s at her dad’s. But The Dog’s feeling a lot better now. She’s finished her antibiotics and she’s eating properly again. And the rain has cleared whatever it is that’s been setting off my hay-fever out of the air and I feel loads better too.”

“That’s good”

“And we’ve been looking after next door’s cat. They’ve gone on holiday and we go in and feed it. Never thought I’d get emotionally attached to a cat. We feel sorry for it. It seems lonely.”

“It would do”

Reggie joined us. Mum held my hand while we talked about how Lesley and her dad were getting on. Well, we tried to. Reggie was the centre of attention today.

“When are we going to eat? I want something to eat!” interrupted Eleanor.

Reggie went out to her and as he stood and explained that he would bring her some sandwiches and a few biscuits he gently rebuttoned her cardigan so it lined up properly. When he guided her to a seat in the lounge Audrey asked him for something and called him “Angel”.

“It’s all go for you in here today!” I said

“Yeah. They’ve all been like it. They called me at home yesterday because Betty was getting distressed and they wanted me to speak to her and calm her down.”

When we did get to talk about Lesley’s dad I explained that he was struggling.

“He’s had a bad couple of days. He’s refused delivery of some kit saying it was the wrong thing without even looking at it, messed up his meds again, told the manager at the day centre that he’s in pain, that the paracetamol isn’t enough to control it and then told Lesley he was fine. He’s denying that he needs extra help and doesn’t want the two guys we introduced to him last week. He’s just been awkward and argumentative with Lesley all day today.”

I thought he was just embarrassed that he’d been caught out making mistakes and was upset that that the pretence that he’s independent was looking shaky enough for people to notice how badly he was coping.

“We’re talking about Lesley’s dad Mum. He’s being an aggravating little twerp. But then he always has been, hasn’t he”

She just smiled and went back to sleep.

Author’s Note

My Mum is in a nursing home in a small village in the Thames Valley. The photo is not of the home. I used an AI image generator to give the reader some idea of the home she’s in.

All, some or maybe even none (you’ll never know!) of the names have been changed to protect privacy and hide real identities. If you think you recognise someone then let me know and I’ll edit the post or remove it entirely