Then there was the family member who came up deficient in every category except finances. When she could no longer live on her own she was put in a kind of mother-in-law situation. Because of her personality she was hard to deal with but her daughter did the best she could. That went well for several years. She was even allowed to continue after almost setting the building on fire. What drove her into a nursing home was a broken hip.
She had the surgery and it went as well as could be expected but she was so hard to get along with she did no therapy and ended up losing her mobility. She was one of those people who was a real jewel if you were in a short term social situation and a genuine witch to family. As she lost more mental ability she retained the shell of banter. If you only saw her for a few minutes you would wonder why she was in a nursing home. Spend a little longer and you would realize that she was out of touch with reality.
Family visited regularly, kept up on her laundry and made sure she was taken care of but this situation was more typical of what people think of as a nursing home. When you walked down the halls you had rows of people sitting in wheel chairs and just staring. Some would smile and respond to greetings but many were lost in their dreams.
To be continued...
homo unius libri
I grew up in a family of old people; the scenario brings back many sad memories.
ReplyDeleteSometimes all we can do is the best we can do.
DeleteGrace and peace