Well here I am six a bit months since my last post!!............. and I was all set to post regularly when LIFE took over and my time has not been mine. My life has been taken up with a very sick mother, nursing homes and selling our family home........ and in amongst that grandchildren have been a constant as have a lot of changes for me.
Through April and May it was becoming more obvious that mum was not looking after herself. My sister and I were taking it in turn spending most of each day with her to make sure she showered and ate - if we didn't she wouldn't. This worked for my sister but for me it didn't - I have Karah to run around after and by that time I had my 14yr old grandson coming for half of every week to stay with me as well.
Early June mum started going downhill even with the constant care we were giving her. I had dealt with and accepted that we were going to have to put her into full time care as I couldn't keep going with the way things were. By the end of June she was in hospital where she went close to dying twice. After a week in hospital with her being not much better the Drs decided she could go home - that was until I told them that she was on her home and family could not provide the medical care she needed. So the Nursing Home journey began.
Mum has been in the Nursing Home for 4 months now but doesn't want to be there. During this time her dementia worsened and she has forgotten how ill she was. There have been some funny comments from her like "it is conspract that I ended up in here - it's those girls fault!' and 'there was trickery at play to get me in here'. I am pleased that she is getting 24 hour care, 3 meals a day and company all day every day. I know it is going to take quite a while for her to accept it fully but it has just made all our lives so much easier and no stress or worry about her wellbeing.
Then it was time to empty her house and sort all the belongings and get it ready for sale. That has been hard. 45 years of memories - my 4 boys hated coming in to help me because they seen nan everywhere and memories would assail them wherever they looked. It was hard and took me 7 weeks to do it all the sorting (and mum had gotten rid of a lot of stuff a few years ago. I packed a lot of it into boxes and brought home with me - it is stored in a shed until I can get to it to sort it.
The house has been sold one of my sons bought it for his family home which I am pleased about. Changes have been made to his and his wives liking and I think they are for the better. It is slowly becoming their home.
Mum in her youth.
Mum with Oliver
The great granchildren visiting Nan (Lachlan, Abbey and Karah)
Mum and William
Mum and Hope at our local show at the beginning of October.
We (including her grandchildren) pick her up several times a week and go to the plaza and have lunch or coffee - she sees more of her grandkids now than she did for many years!! And we all go and see her constantly.
So now I am getting used to getting my life back in order and having some time to myself. I did find myself resenting the time dealing with mum's house was taking from me but I have dealt with that now and happy with the outcome of it all.
My garden is a sea of weeds but going for a walk around each day is an adventure - flowers pop up overnite and greet me through the weeds each day! Here are a few:
Julias Rose - one of my favourites
3 years this has been in my garden and finally it was covered in flowers
So as life settles down I am thankful I can still share times with my mother, my grandies are my rocks - they calm me down and cuddle me through the tough times and myadventure finds keep me smiling and excited for good times ahead!!
