Morning in America

I listened to McCain's gracious concession speech last night, but I could not stay awake to hear Obama, happy as I am about the outcome of the election. Who will ever forget where they were at 11 PM on November 4, 2008?

Now it's morning in America, literally. I've been up for an hour, because I couldn't sleep. Things are not going well with Mom. Yesterday was Sunday to her. She was ready for breakfast at 7 PM on Election NIght.

On Monday, I took her for a blood test to rule out the possibility that something other than old age is driving her dementia. After her blood was drawn, I said, "Now we can go home." She snarled, "I don't have a home!"

Yesterday Mom finally lost her long-running argument against having a home health aide come in. She can no longer be left alone all day Tuesdays and Thursdays, while I am away taking care of Nathaniel, our eight-month-old grandson. Taking care of him is something I will not, cannot, give up. He makes me laugh.

Last July, I listened to unreason, when Mom proclaimed, "I don't need any help! I won't pay a penny to have some woman come in and just sit around." (BTW, she has a long-term health care insurance policy that will pay for some clearly-defined services in return for the thousands of dollars she's paid in premiums.) When Binta arrived last summer from Family and Nursing Care, Mom regaled her with examples of "how I get along without any help from anyone, including 'that one' there." When I meekly suggested that Binta could help with her laundry and changing her bed, Mom snapped, "I don't WANT or NEED help with that. You know I have my own way of doing things!" I gave up and sent the aide away. Yesterday Binta was back. She will be here from 10 AM to 2 PM two days a week. Rather than telling Mom that a companion has been hired to look after her, I told her that I was having someone come in to help me with "a project." Mom seems OK with that.