Sunday

Didn’t quite know what to make of what I found when I walked in Mum’s room at The Home today. Her blanket and sheet were kicked everywhere like she was still hyperactive but she was sound asleep and unresponsive like she hadn’t emerged from her hypoactive phase yet. She woke up at my second attempt to get a response from her.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m alright thanks Mum. It’s been nice and bright today but a bit chilly when you’re out of the sun. Took The Dog out for her walk this morning and she was so good. She’s so much better with people and other dogs now. It wasn’t a mad long walk today. Not after being out for two and a half hours yesterday. And Lesley went round to let the neighbour’s dog out in their garden this morning. I went round yesterday and the only way I could get him out was to pick him up and carry him to the lawn. He just ran straight back in. When Lesley tried that today he tried to bite her!

“He’s old and sick and unhappy though. Their kid went off to university yesterday and the dog’s taken it badly. Won’t go out, won’t eat. Do you remember how our dog played up when I went off to uni? He’s doing the same.”

Mum nodded and smiled but didn’t say anything.

I’d made a mistake giving such a full answer to Mum’s simple question. I’d run out of things to say in the first minute.

“Let’s get your bed straight shall we? Don’t want you getting cold.”

Mum accepted the rearrangement of her bedclothes in silence.

Mum hadn’t been asleep all day. A half finished milkshake told me that. She finished it off without difficulty.

“Blimey Mum! You must’ve been gasping!”

Another nod.

“Lesley’s dad has these milkshakes now. He likes them too. His problem is that when he’s left to his own devices he doesn’t think to make himself one. He’s not like you. Waited on hand and foot every day.”

I got a smile and a nod for that.

A cup of tea was delivered for Mum and I was asked if I wanted one too.

“That’s very kind! One sugar please.”

“I know.” replied Mum’s carer.

I didn’t ask how.

When my tea arrived, Mum perked up.

“Can I have a cup of tea?”

“Yours is here already Mum. It’s probably going to be a bit hot though. Shall I read to you while it cools down?”

She nodded again.

It took two chapters for her tea to reach a drinkable temperature and another for her to finish the cup. By this stage Mum was fighting to stay awake.

“I’ll push off now Mum. Let you get some kip.”

That woke her up but she let me go without any upset. I met the nurse on duty on my way out.

“How is she today?”

“Um, OK for the first day coming out of a Sleepy phase I think. She’s normally pretty miserable the first day but there were no tears today.”

“Oh?”

“The past couple of weeks she’s been really bad. Sobbing and telling me she wishes she was dead.”

“Oh!”

“Much better today but she does still seem quite sleepy. Not talkative yet. She only spoke twice. That’s typical for Day One. At least there weren’t any tears. The visit wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected.”

At that point Eleanor joined us. I’d heard her wandering the corridor outside Mum’s room the whole time I’d been with Mum demanding to be told where she was and demanding to be taken home.

“Hello Eleanor! How are you today?” I asked.

She didn’t answer. Just shook her head and sobbed theatrically.

“Well you’re looking very well I have to say. I just hope you haven’t lost that smile. I love that smile of yours.”

She lit up in spite of trying not to.

The nurse mouthed “Thank you!” over Eleanor’s shoulder and I headed off to the lift.

Bibliography

Tales from the Parish: 31 humorous short stories about community, family and village life, set in the English countryside

Kindle Edition

by Stefania Hartley

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