Nursing Home

By Nick Gilmore

Published: 3 Mar, 2024

Sunday

Eldest Sister stepped in to do The Visit today and brought all three of her kids with her.

The first thing mum said to them when they got there was to pass her knitting to her. Mum used to be really keen on knitting, crochet, cross-stitch and embroidery but she hasn’t done any for years. She certainly hadn’t mentioned it at all since her stroke.

Mum stayed awake for the whole of their visit but her speech wasn’t always east to understand.

Mum did have a few lucid moments – she asked Eldest Son how his wife was and seemed to know who they all were. But there was someone in bed with her and a lot of Other People in the room. A good many of them were family – Aunts Myrtle and Lou, as well as her cousins Terry, Tony and David. Uncle John also got a mention along with her grandad who was working in the garden. She called out for her mum and someone called Winifred. No-one knew who Winifred was.

There was a lot of laughter and Eldest Sister was told to act her age.

Mum wanted the kids to do some sorting out as well. That was something they helped with before she was ill and it’s a common theme when they visit.

They were pleased to get Mum to have some of her milkshake and to eat some chocolates.

They left just before lunch was served. They knew it was on its way as they could hear someone shouting “I’m not eating that muck!”

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

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