By and large, Mom's had a good weekend, and Laura and I breathed a sigh of relief.
We went to visit her early Saturday afternoon, and were surprised that Mom was awake with her eyes open, and with a bit of prompting was talking again. We took that to be a sign that she was getting her strength back after her most recent infection. The weather was warm and sunny, so we took her outside to the patio. There, she did not talk as much, but I think she enjoyed the change of scenery.
Later Saturday, Mom also had a special treat, because her friend Meryl came down to see her as well.
When Meryl came into town, we met her at the Hilton just down the street from us, had a nosh, and went straight to the nursing home. Mom and Meryl caught up a little, and again, Mom was alert and fairly "chatty," to indulge in a relative characterization. I think she enjoyed very much seeing an old friend. Sometimes Mom's silent. Sometimes she tries to speak, with mixed success; sometimes she needs more time than the average person to get the words out. And other times, like the rest of us, she hasn't anything much to say. She actually reported as much when Meryl was trying to get her to talk with her more toward the end of Saturday - "I haven't got anything to say."
We began to talk about getting back to the hotel, as Mom also seemed to be tiring out, and Mom interjected quite plainly, "It isn't time to say goodnight yet." This was music to my ears, personally, and I think much of it had to do with Mom getting a chance to see an old friend. So we decided to hang around, talk some more, not talk some more, and generally just be there for a while longer. Eventually Mom did get tired, and was okay with us leaving for the evening.
On Sunday, we returned with Meryl, and we went with Mom out to a sitting area. Meryl and Mom caught up some more, and when Mom wasn't talking much, Meryl, Laura, and I chatted amongst ourselves. The subject touched on new gizmos and gadgets, like smart phones, and the constant task of keeping up with "what's new."
I talked a little about the pioneering brown tank of a microwave oven that my father had brought home when we were kids. It was a behemoth of an appliance, and when you cooked with it, the radio immediately switched from talk or music to loud static. It had one setting, which would have been "cook" had they thought to name it (as I recall). There was an egg-timer dial you used to deliver timed microwave exposure that the food was to be subjected to. It did not turn food around automatically. The recommended procedure was to half-cook the food, stop the microwave, and turn the food around by hand, before administering the last dose of radiation. In any event, Mom remembered this little feature of our house in Fredericksburg as well, and seemed amused by the memory.
Laura will be back in the morning, and we do hope Mom continues to talk and keep her eyes open during our visits. I think she was beginning to get her strength back, but Meryl's visit was a wonderful "booster shot."
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