Shining - 2023 08 25

 

From Mom's room I hear her singing, "Jesus bids us shine with with a pure clear light, like a little candle burning in the night, la la la la ..." The la la's then morph into the tune of Yankee Doodle. She pauses to lift up onto her elbow to take a sip of tea.

I hear the bed creak as she lays back onto the pillow.

This morning the caregiver arrived an hour early, at 7 am. We were still in our early morning routine, that is designed to build Mom's strength for the caregiver to give a shower at 8 am. She had her juice, her dentures weren't in yet and the kettle had boiled but the tea wasn't made.

The caregiver was good hearted and sang along with Mom as they went through the sponge bath routine. Mom wasn't strong enough to go into the shower.

The caregiver got Mom dressed and brought her out to her recliner chair. After the caregiver departed I could see Mom was kind of slumped over sideways in her chair. With difficulty, we shifted Mom back to her bed in case she wanted to sleep some more. On the way to the bed Mom was in pain in her arm and her leg. I willed for her to stay upright as we crossed the last steps to her bed.

I gave Mom her extra medications to help with her breathing and pain management. I brought her tea to her bed and she laid back gratefully on her pillow.

As I collect my thoughts for the day, part of my attention is drawn to the sounds coming from her room. I'm listening to hear if there is anything else I can do to make Mom comfortable.

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