As I've noted before, this isn't exactly the kind of Christmas I was visualizing. My mother in hospital is a bit scary, especially when i think back to Friday when i arrived with everyone just waiting for an ambulance. Fortunately she's doing better and in very good hands We had a mild setback yesterday when they thought they might have to take her back in for surgery to clean out the shoulder again, but the infection seems to be abating, so the doctors think they can avoid more surgery.
So, in some ways, this has been quite a downer. In other ways, though, the adversity has forced more family interaction than normal. As long as my mother is doing well it's a bit like an adventure. Instead of sitting around the telly eating too much, we have projects now, and hospital visits to plan. Our "normal" Christmas has been thrown out of the window and replaced by this somewhat surreal but much more interesting experience.
My mom and dad live in a tiny two bedroom bungalow that's too small to swing a cat in (not that we've actually tried - no cats were actually harmed in the writing of this post.) When Sue and I would visit we would take over the second bedroom on a sofa bed and try to sleep without much success. It's a small, flimsy affair and barely adequate for one. So with just me, it works out OK. With the bed out, though, there is no actual floor visible at all, the room is that small. So it's a challenge.
In normal circumstances, my mom and dad have the daily routine down pat - dad prepares meals, mom does the washing. Dad writes his diary (every day since 1963 - it will make a great 72 hour epic movie someday...) and mom vacuums. This has been totally disrupted, of course. I can't imagine my dad coping that well with the sudden shift, so it was an absolute god-send that I am able to be here and ease into the changes. My two brothers who live locally would have been able to help, of course, but they both have busy schedules and could only fit an odd visit in a couple of times a day. There's something infinitely more comforting having somebody living in the house (and the same goes for me - it's nice to spend time with my dad.)
They just got a new washing machine - a new fangled electronic one, and my mom hadn't figured it out fully. It does have a memory function, though, so it should be easy to set up the most common program. To those of us with computer skills - no problem. To a couple of eighty year-olds who can barely manage the TV remote that was a bit intimidating. Technophobia hardly starts to cover it. Tech??? No!!! Phobia!
Anyway, after three times through the routine (the last two with the memory set and used) my dad is happy and amazed at how easy it is.
So life will adjust. It seems that mom will be in hospital through the New Year, but we'll just have to see how it foes.
Merry Christmas
(note, this post was truncated on original posting for some reason - now restored.)
