Mama with Sherry, Shirl, Jim & I

Facts of Life :

THE Six Best Doctors in the World are Sunlight, Rest, Exercise, diet, self- Confidence and Friends.

Continuing on Seniors

I received some informative and sweet e-mails, comments and messages concerning the two blog entries on seniors. Shirl and I talked the other day and she is all right with ‘Senior housing’ or ‘Assisted Living’. BUT forget the term Nursing Home. LOL

I agree with her, mainly because in our lifetime we have visited some pretty ‘bad’ nursing homes.  Lately I have been in some that are improved 1000% to what we have encountered.  To be honest most of the older ‘Nursing Homes’ smelled of urine, with folks strapped in wheel chairs, heads drooping. They were either asleep or in a stupor drooling. I have seen them lining the walls.

When the doctor called our family in to explain that mama needed to be in a nursing home. Those memories of nursing homes were vivid. I said forcefully, “My mama will never go to a nursing home.” I would later regret those words.

That was an ignorant statement. Mama was in Charlotte, NC. I was stationed in DC, One sister in NY, one in Maryland and my older brothers with their hands full 50 miles away.  BUT my Sherry quit a good job in DC to move back to Belmont and take care of my mama. I immediately started paperwork looking for a transfer to Charlotte.  In the meantime Sherry almost killed herself taking care of my mama completely alone. I was there on weekends.  I did get a transfer finally, Sister Shirl’s hubby, Jim, quit a very high paying job in Maryland and they moved back to Charlotte.

We did have some laughs and fun. Here is mom and I, in the back of Jim’s Antique Studebaker truck moving mama. The Beverly Hill Billie’s.

 Shirl and Sherry treated mama like she was royalty.  When mama was at Shirl's and she worked, Jim would take care of mama.

(MY favorite snapshot of mama and her baby boy!)

BUT basically my big mouth relocated and rechanneled several families. I realized too late, the Dr. was right.  Sherry and I have both told our boys to put us in a home when we cannot take care of ourselves. EXPLAINING, even if our minds aren’t ‘solid’ and we try to make you feel guilty, forget it. You were told what we wanted when we were in our right minds.

What some folk ‘give’ or ‘DO’ to take care of a parent is never recognized or appreciated by the rest of the family. I know folk who have actually given up their way of life to ‘try to ease’ their conscience because kin folk or society member has put a guilt trip on them.

Tomorrow I will end this diatribe with my brother’s talk with me.

 Nite Shipslog