Monday, November 12, 2007

Mom was 98 in April.

The other day, recovering from a chest cold, Mom said testily,
"I am NOT sick. If people would just leave me alone, I could get well!"

"Leave me alone" means:

Stop pushing me to drink water.
Stop urging me to eat! I'm not hungry.
Leave my valium in my room so that I can take what I want when I want it.
Stop taking my blood pressure every day. Why are you fussing over me? Anyway, you don't know what you're doing.
Stop babying me!

The occupational therapist who visited on Friday to assess Mom's needs after her fall two weeks ago discovered that she never uses the pull-down seat in her shower for anything other than a toilet-brush rack. She made Mom promise to use the seat and to shower only when my husband or I were at home. When I returned from an errand that afternoon, I found her Kliban-cat bath sheet tossing in the dryer. She had taken her first shower in two weeks while I out. When I tattled to the therapist, she grinned and said, "Typical!"

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