My mom completes her 98th year on this earth on Monday. (Pretty sure she'll make it.)
Her aides are showing their appreciation and love. SR is the first with flowers (and a gift card for me, even, an hour-long massage 😭)
#caregiving #appreciation #OldOld #hospice

Breakfast: Protein drink with a side of morphine
My mom went on hospice a few days ago. So much going on around her and she is still a peaceful presence.
So far I'm fine. Just don't look me in the eyes and ask how I'm doing.
#OldOld #caregivers #EndOfLife @caregivers

I hear my mom coughing, investigate. No she didn't swallow the wrong way. She's got two projects, and one is going fine, the other not so much. I ask if these are intellectual projects -- "No" -- physical projects? "Yes." Can you explain? "Well, I have to take..." she points, her index finger peeking out from under the covers, then stops, at a loss for words, and starts laughing. She's not out of the #hallucination, just amused at not being able to explain.
#dementia #OldOld #caregiving

I was walking past my mom's room, peering in to make sure of her breathing. She opened her eyes, so I went in to say good night.
I took her hand, said something like, I didn't realize you were awake, and she kind of stuttered out an apology, saying she had made a promise to another, and would like to ask...
I waited, not sure where this was going. A promise?
She said she would like it if we could be... friends.
She looked concerned that I might be hurt. 1/2
#SleepTalking #dementia #OldOld

Mom's quite talkative tonight, cheerful, hallucinating a bit. A selection:
I have to give these back so I can stand up and make myself available for...
If I have to be at the door, I have to be there at the same time someone else is there...
The stuff that was over there on this side...
It's easier to want something else than it is to get something else that you can get with... all this stuff around here.
It's not complicated, it's just... unusual.
#caregiving #OldOld #dementia #hallucination

I resist posting images of my mom, but these are too heartwarming not to share. One of our aides does animal rescue and is fostering sibling kittens. This one is 5 weeks old in the photos and has visited twice already. (She might be a foster fail and a future therapy cat.)
#Caturday #OldOld #Caregiving #Joy

So proud of my mom, who voted by absentee ballot tonight, with my assist. I knew she wouldn't know any names but TFG (the odious), so I read her the office and gave her the choice of parties, and she chose the Democrat every time. It was exhausting to her, I could see her struggle to keep focus on the question, but even when I tested her, "So you want the Republican for this one?" She corrected me emphatically: "Democrat!"
#VoteBlue2024 #OldOld #SheVoted
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