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Monday, September 14, 2009

Mom's Question

Mom is back in her apartment at an assisted living center. She is quickly slipping back into what we feared: doing nothing but lying on her bed except for meals and for the times therapists and aides come to help her.

Lying in bed might not be so bad if she was doing something. Watching television. Reading. Looking out the window.

But she lies there, blinds down, tv off, dozing on and off and thinking random thoughts. When I chide her, she says "But what is there to do?"

I don't know how to respond. She has puzzle books and coloring books and crayons. She doesn't do any of that. She doesn't even turn on the tv. She has the schedule of activities at the Center, but she only attends church services. I urge her to try them all out. Unless she truly hates something, take part in everything. But she chooses not to.

I feel like she's waiting to die. And it breaks my heart.

3 comments:

Aine Willis said...

Darlene, I'm so sorry for the struggle you are facing. God Bless you as you care for your loved one.

Anonymous said...

I can sympathize with you. My husband and I care for an elderly friend with dementia and to see her getting more and more feeble, losing interest in everything around her is heartbreaking. She spends more and more time in bed. She does some reading but seems to be losing interst in even that. She will watch TV only if someone else has it on, but can no longer follow the story. She, too, just seems to be waiting to die, and it is very, very sad indeed.

Jan Parrish said...

Sounds like depression. Can she have her cat there? I'll be praying. I know this is very hard for you both.