Claudia began the day with mom. Mom was sleeping when she got there but she had to pull her up in bed and straighten her (because she moved a lot in her sleep). This woke her up. Claudia washed her face well and eyes…and then stretched her out really well and did her full physical therapy/range of motion exercises. Some people have asked what this exercise entails. Basically, we take each finger first and stretch each one, bend each one at the main knuckle, and then bend down where the finger meets the hand. We do this 10 times for each finger. Then we roll her wrist in a clockwise circle, then in a counterclockwise circle. Then we bend the wrist at the arm. We do this 10 times as well. We do the same for the elbows, the shoulders, the knees, ankles, toes. We also take her legs and bend them at the knee and push them up to her belly. We also bend the knee and turn them in toward the opposite side (this helps keep her hips aligned). All of this is done to a count of 10. As Claudia stretched mom, she had mom listening to Jean sing on her cell phone, youtube, and she kept asking mom, “Who is this?” and mom finally answered, very deliberately, “Jean.” Mom kept trying to look at the picture on the phone but was too awkward to manipulate it well and kept getting frustrated when she would shut off the picture, song… Then they watched the Food Network and Claudia talked about what they were cooking and with what ingredients and how and mom was very interested and even raised her eyebrows occasionally. Claudia did a lot of work on mom’s left hand and fingers as well. Mom has both hearing aids back today! She gets a shower soon.
Dad and I visited with mom next. Dad had bought himself some Dunkin Donuts and Coffee. He gave mom a small, tiny crumb-like piece of donut. She gobbled it up and smiled. She was very in tune with dad…making a lot of eye contact… We looked at pictures on the IPAD. Mom laughed and laughed at some of them. She didn’t remember names though. We also did VEGETABLES on the IPAD…mom loves this! She flips through the pictures of the vegetables and labels them. At one point, mom told dad and I that she had a dream and when I asked about what? She told us that she dreamt of the hospital! Mom was very talkative today. I could make out most of what she said. We also looked at the INSTRUMENTS on the IPAD…it shows pictures of instruments and the name. We looked at a picture of an accordion and I asked who plays this. I said, “Who plays this? Uncle….” And mom said, “Mario.” When it came to the bongo drums, I asked, “Who played that? On TV… Babaloo? Ricky…” Mom said, “Ricardo.” We tried to do the pom poms and the tweezers next but I had to do it all hand over hand, mom wouldn’t even try to do it alone. Mom and I tried to do some clothespin work next. She managed to squeeze open 4 clothespins and I moved the cup in between in order to get the clothespin on the cup. Then we did 6 more hand over hand. Mom managed to take 5 clothespins off the cup alone. We tried the nuts and bolts next, but mom made minimal attempts to turn the nut using only one hand (her right one). Dad put the leprechaun beard and hat on and mom laughed. We did more crossword puzzles next.
“___in the neck” “Starts with a P…” mom mouthed, “PAIN”
“Swiss mountains. Starts with an A…. Allllll….” Mom mouthed, “ALPS”
“Be jealous of. Starts with an E… Ennnn” Mom mouthed, “Envious”
“Place to go for a beer in Europe. Starts with a P….” Mom mouthed, “Pub”
“No ___, ands, or buts. Starts with an I…” Mom mouthed, “Ifs”
“Sows and Boars. A boar is a male….p… and a sow is a female…p….” Mom said, “Pig”
“Pigs live in a s….” Mom mouthed, “Sty”
Mom tired of this activity and looked tired so I put the headphones on with some music. I played Steve Tyrell’s Standard Time---an album of oldies. The first song was, “It Had To Be You” and as soon as it started mom began to mouth the words to it!
Anthony and Con came next and Dad and I left to go to Target and then dinner and a movie. We saw, “The Adjustment Bureau” ---not what I anticipated---very good movie. Very spiritual. Dad enjoyed it. We came to tuck mom in after the movie. Anthony and Con were still there. Terry had come and gone already. They all sat and talked, laughed, and watched TV---old videos of the Odd Couple, among other things. They said mom laughed a lot during the Odd Couple. They said mom was very relaxed, calm and peaceful. They all just “chilled.” Con and Anthony said that mom was in a “snuggly,” “huggy” mood. She did look very pure, peaceful and innocent (almost childlike but in a pure way) when dad and I returned. Anthony and Con said they had just finished praying (mom mouthed the prayers) before we came back. Dad and I kissed her good night and told her to sleep well and that we’d all be back in the morning. Ant and Con had left slightly before us. It’s funny but, as much as I wouldn’t wish this on mom at all---health-wise, I mean---we are now able to enjoy her in a way that we couldn’t before all this happened to her. I miss a lot of what I shared before with mom, but there is a closeness in this time with her that was never able to be there before. She is finally “still” which is not something she was ever able to be before.
"Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10
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