Monthly Archives: December 2017

December 25, 2017

Elderly Mothers and the Love of Books

Mom loved books and she taught us to love them as well. Christmas morning brings back memories of opening the most wonderful books. There was nothing more pleasurable than feeling the heft of a book through the wrapping paper and knowing there was hours of pleasure in store. The books were almost always the Caldecott […]

Elderly Mothers
December 24, 2017

Elderly Mothers and a Legacy of Powerful Women

I just thought there would be no more blogs once Mom was gone. Not so. This past weekend, PBS produced a beautiful one-hour program called Christmas at Belmont. All of the music students, and it looked like most of the student body, from Nashville’s Belmont University joined with country singer Sheryl Crow to sing Christmas […]

Elderly Mothers
December 20, 2017

Martha Lou Gorton, a life well lived.

Martha Louise Gorton Castillo, age 98, passed away on December 18, 2017 at her home in Huntsville, Texas. Martha Lou was born in Utica, New York, on June 25, 1919 to Charles Ruddell Gorton of New York and Caroline Oates Gorton of Greenville, Kentucky. She learned her love of travel early as her father and […]

Elderly Mothers
December 19, 2017

Elderly Mothers: Bed Baths and the Beyond

I was with Mom alone on Saturday. I felt certain I could handle one day alone with her. If the other caregivers could, I thought, so could I. Just because I was also night shift shouldn’t matter. Didn’t nurses pull double shifts all the time? I tried to rouse Mom several times from the bed […]

Elderly Mothers
December 14, 2017

Elderly Mothers and Sweet, Sweet Water

It’s been a week without water. Okay, not without water, exactly, but without running water. Living out in the country means that we live by well water alone. Many people do, out here in East Texas. Or Middle East Texas. Or north of Houston, anyway. Or much of rural Texas. It’s not uncommon. Unlike the […]

Elderly Mothers
December 9, 2017

Elderly Mothers and the Dailyness of Care.

“I’m sorry, I can’t come. I have to take care of my mother.” I’ve heard this from others on occasion and I scoffed. Certainly they could find a way to attend the meeting or the party or the festival. Surely someone could have taken care of the elderly parent. Or somehow they could have left […]

General
December 8, 2017

Elderly Mothers and the Stubborn Streak

“No! Leave me alone!” It’s 4:30 am and Mom is sitting on the bedside commode refusing to go back to bed. She doesn’t understand where she is or what the bed is. I’ve cut off the wet pull-ups and laboriously slid a new pair up to her knees but that’s it. Not moving any farther, […]

Elderly Mothers
December 6, 2017

Elderly Mothers and Down Time

           Wait! Where’d the peace and quiet go? Gone are the halcyon days of getting to sit with the Hospice nurse calmly watching Mom sleep and waiting for the end. Nope. That’s definitely not happening. Now that the Witchdoctor is here, we are scrambling to keep up with the new routine. […]

General
December 2, 2017

Elderly Mothers and Food

It seems that going Herbal also means going Vegan. (Oh, by the way, it is Herbalist not Herbologist). My sister is a great believer in the vegan lifestyle. She has recommended it to me on many occasions and I keep meaning to try it. I’m certain that I could benefit from eating all those good-for-you […]

Elderly Mothers
December 1, 2017

Elderly Mothers and Night nurses

What, exactly do night nurses do? I’ve made myself the night shift “nurse” and sleep in the big bed beside Mom. If she starts thrashing, or crawls out of bed, I usually hear her and get up to help. My only duties are to readjust Mom’s covers, get Mom up to sit on the bedside […]

Elderly Mothers