Friday

I had to admit to being concerned about Mum unexpectedly not showing signs of being sleepy yesterday. A gradual and predictable decline was something I could cope with I thought and any deviation from that couldn’t be good. But when I got to The Home just after lunchtime I found Mum in her usual Sleepy & Unresponsive phase position. Head back, mouth open, arms crossed across her chest. She looks like she’s been laid out.

She didn’t respond the first time I told her I was there. I was just about to leave when when she moved an arm to pull the collar of her pyjama top up. I took her hand and tried again.

“Hello Mum! It’s Nicholas!”

Mum half opened an eye, nodded almost imperceptibly and gripped my hand.

There was a knock at the door before I’d even sat down. Afternoon meds time.

Mum shut her eyes immediately but the nurse had seen she was awake. In spite of making several attempts she couldn’t get Mum to take her meds.

“She did this at lunchtime too.” the nurse told me.

“I’ve seen her do it many times. If she’s being asked questions she doesn’t want to answer or she has to do something she doesn’t fancy doing then she’ll fake being asleep. She’ll do it mid conversation.”

“I’ll try again in a few minutes.” the nurse said as she left the room.

“Shall I read for a bit Mum?”

Another barely perceptible nod. Her grip on my hand returned.

My guess was that it wouldn’t matter what I read so I went for something I’m reading for my interest. I thought that the sound of my voice was what mattered.

True enough, within a few minutes, Mum had her head back, mouth open, arms crossed across her chest and she let go of my hand.

If she stuck to her schedule, she should be awake again some time late on Sunday.

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