General

November 29, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Surviving Caregiving

A friend sent me a lengthy article on the problems faced by caregivers. I would attach the site for you, but I didn’t remember to save it after printing out the article. I’m sure there are dozens of such sites on the Internet since there are so many of us Baby Boomers caring for our […]

General
November 28, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Money

If you can believe it, in all her 96 years, Mom has never been a accosted by a panhandler. She has been mugged. A couple of times, I think. Once, after getting $3,000 (a ridiculous sum) out of an ATM in Washington, D.C., a man grabbed her purse, jerked it off her arm, knocking her […]

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November 27, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Independence

  “You’re making me so dependent,” Mom said yesterday as I brought her breakfast tray. She wasn’t really complaining. Sort of a backhanded thank you for bringing her meal. I thought about that for a while. Probably true. And probably not a good idea to do everything for her, considering the fact that she will […]

Elderly Mothers, General
November 26, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Setting Boundaries

  As children, we are conditioned to obey. It’s just who we are. It’s the track our child-brains will follow, like flocks of geese flying south or like lemmings going over a cliff. A friend told me about her mother who now lives with her. Her mom insists on opening the mail—all of it—then hiding […]

General
November 25, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Loneliness

I try. Honest I do. But it’s just not enough. Mom is stuck in her trailer, nice though it is, (we’re not talking trailer trash here), but she doesn’t have any way to get out, go for a ride, go visit, go shopping—nothing, unless I take her. She can, sort of, walk up to the […]

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November 24, 2015

Elderly Mothers and cell phones

It’s the dadburn new technology that makes life difficult for my 96 year-old mother. That, and memory loss. Her phone rang yesterday morning. Fumbling for her phone, desperate at the sound, shoving hands into pockets, grabbing for her purse, unzipping zippers, finally turning it upside down, she at last found the phone. Too late. It […]

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November 23, 2015

Elderly Mothers and Music

And a good day was had by all. Sunday Mom had the energy to get up after our outing on Saturday. For which I am grateful. Even when she called at 6:30 am to ask if I could take her to her church. She wanted to say goodbye to all her friends before leaving for […]

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November 22, 2015

Elderly Mothers and conflicted emotions

“But I’m going to miss you so much!”   My 96 year-old mother was as close to tears as she ever gets. I had gone out to check on her after getting back from Houston at 10 o’clock at night after a meeting and dinner that made me late getting home. She was distraught and […]

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November 21, 2015

Elderly Mothers don’t grow old gracefully

  And a great voice rose up. And it said, “Take up thy rod and thy staff and follow me.” And he bought her a plane ticket to Florida.  And she took up her friggin’ canes and decided she was going back to Hubby Al in Florida. And there was great consternation in the land. […]

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November 20, 2015

Elderly Mothers and the Neighbors

As you can tell from our efforts yesterday, Mom is a very sociable person.   Living out in the country means neighbors are important. Restricted to the trailer out here in the East Texas boonies, she wants to know her neighbors. The problem is, we don’t have many and getting to them is becoming difficult. […]

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