Monday, September 3, 2007


Mom was always the organized one in our family. She kept everything in its place. Dad, on the other hand, was disorganized and had lots of clutter. He would bring home stuff from the shipyard; stuff that he had salvaged from ships like gears or log books. When it comes time to locate things, like the title and lien release for Mom's car, it was easy to find. But after Mom's taxes were done, they were misplaced so I had to have a new copy sent to us. Mom wouldn't have misplaced them. When I was looking for them in July, Mom got very anxious and tried to help locate them but she did not have a clue what I was looking for so she would hold up her glasses (which we always seem to lose) and say 'Are these what you are looking for?'. I have to work really hard at staying organized and I also forget that Mom is not so organized anymore.

This morning we got in a much needed shower. Tomorrow Mom goes to the orthopedist to see why her replaced right hip is hurting her so much. I hope that the appliance hasn't been knocked out of place by one of her falls. The diarrhea continues, though it does seem a little better.

This is a picture of Mom and Dad that I took at Christian Brother's Winery in Napa Valley, CA in 1991. It was a wonderful trip to the Bay area and I am grateful for the great memories.

We went to dinner tonight and Mom did pretty well though she always complains that restaurants give too much food. She wanted to go to bed at 8:30 so I asked if we could change her underwear. Why? she said and I insisted. I was told that she's still the mother. And alas, the underwear needed changing. Now she is sleeping. Tomorrow I'm working from home so that I can take her to the orthopedist. She talked to her sister tonight. It's always a strange conversation where she tells people that her husband is dead. The jealousy about Mary Ellen's husband still being alive persists.

3 comments:

~Betsy said...

Watching my mom become more and more disorganized was one of our clues before she was diagnosed. Now I'm the disorganized one, but I would venture a guess it has something to do with caregivers dementia.

Your parents looked so happy together. Thanks for sharing the pic!

rilera said...

That was the clue with my Mom too. She became more disorganized and she could no longer handle her home finances and bills.

Unknown said...

Interesting. Dad was organized as well. He still organizes things - just a lot smaller scope.

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