Friday

Mum was just coming out of her latest Sleepy phase today and she was fairly standard for Day One of her Sleepy/Active cycle…

Unhappy, Uncommunicative, Uncooperative.

Reggie told me that Mum hadn’t had any lunch today but I know that’s normal for her. He also said that she’d completely refused her breakfast too. That’s very much not normal.

He’d come in to give Mum her afternoon meds. She refused those too and I got to witness the new ‘Pulling The Duvet Up Over Her Mouth To Avoid Eating Or Drinking Anything’ habit that I’d been told about.

“Have you heard anything about the blood tests that Juliette asked for a couple of weeks ago?”

 “No, I haven’t. She’s in tomorrow. You can ask her then.”

Mum drifted in and out of sleep until her tea arrived. A small bowl of sad-looking macaroni cheese, a small pot of yoghurt and a cup of tea.

“Would you like a cup of tea Nick?” Reggie asked.

“Ooh, yes please. Two sugars.”

“Sugar!? You don’t look like the sort of person who takes sugar! Does Lesley know?”

“Bloody cheek!”

The tea arrived. Over-sugared and with a couple of sandwiches that the residents had declined.

Mum was aware of the arrival of her meal and I was as sure as I could be that she was faking sleep to avoid having to eat any of it.

She didn’t even respond when I said I was leaving.

Bloody hell.

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