Uncle Phil and Aunt Barb (her brother and sister-in-law) made it on Wednesday afternoon and she was so pleased to see them. I was very glad they came. Their presence gave me a little time to run some errands including the purchase of a mattress pad, which I slept on the next two nights. What a difference that has made!
The past few days Mom seems to be declining rapidly. This morning the cook (the kitchen is staffed by volunteers) asked if I’d like some breakfast. An egg sounded good so I ordered one with cheese (mom’s favorite as well), some bacon and toast. Mom said, “that sounds good” so we ordered her the same, as well as a hash brown. She had a bite of egg and then a bite of hash brown. (I had to feed her.) The hash brown gave her a little choking sensation so she started panicking because she couldn’t breathe. Once she panics she has more difficulty breathing. The nurse came quickly and gave her some medicine to help her relax. Her breathing is under control although she doesn’t feel like she can breathe.
I can’t imagine how that must feel, to struggle for every breath of air.
Over the past two days she has been eating less, is more disoriented, and today she has had difficulty opening her eyes for more than a few seconds at a time. Everyone notices her rapid decline, and tonight I asked the nurse if the treatment team feels the same way. They concur with our thoughts. Mom doesn’t have too much longer and her suffering will be over.
We’ve had lots of visitors, friends of Mom’s, mutual friends of ours, as well as visits from therapy dogs, church friends, her Pastor, and the Chaplain. The Chaplain wanted me to know how much the staff genuinely enjoyed caring for my mom because she is so sweet. Hearing this and witnessing people take time out of their busy days to come and be with her confirms what a wonderful lady she is. He told us a story. A mother in the church where he pastors is “mother to all,” and she has a saying which he believes applies to my Mom. As the Chaplain affirmed:
She puts sugar to shame.
The hospice nurses and staff are so wonderful, caring for my mom and me. They washed my clothes last night and I woke up to a small pile of freshly laundered and folded clothes on a nearby chair. They pull out my bed at night and put it away in the morning. Never do they question whether it is their job or mine. They just do whatever we need to both be taken care of.
While I am away from the family (and my family of bluebirds) Tim is playing both Mom and Dad, and Elizabeth is working hard to finish well this school year. She has less than two weeks left of the school year and she will be a junior. She is doing the nest watch for me, and I was pleased to hear that during her watch on Wednesday there are four beautiful blue eggs in the nest. She sent me a picture of the new life beginning; she is witnessing a miracle.
Speaking of miracles, Jan, a long-time friend of Mom’s, sent me a special gift and it arrived today. I read her note to my aunt and uncle and we all had a good cry after that. Apparently when Jan was teaching at Warner she had Mom in a life span class. Mom had to do a presentation and she did it on “My Life of Miracles.” It contained her life’s testimony. Jan taped the presentation and she has kept it all these years because she was so inspired by Mom’s message. The tape as well as the words to the song she ended her presentation on were inside the package. What a special gift, and yet another confirmation of the lives my mom has touched throughout her lifetime.
After all the visitors had gone and the sun began to set, we closed the evening with the night nurse asking, “what is her favorite hymn?” Then she and I proceeded to sing How Great Thou Art. Well, she sang both verses and I made it through about one and a half verses before I had another cry.
Tomorrow is a big day with several family members coming to town so I’d better wrap up this blog. I’m looking forward to seeing my brother and sister. This will be the first family reunion in many years, with all of us in the house at the same time. I know Mom will be thrilled to see us all together again, and we’ll have yet another memory to store in our quiver.
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À la prochaine (Until next time) …