More from Prescott
Wednesday afternoon.
March 25, 2009
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore.
Kim is with the program now. I went out to the garage to return the stepstool I had been using to clean the kitchen blinds. Her mom, Gloria, was at the kitchen table doing her physical therapy exercises. Kim followed me out the door, having grabbed the mailbox keys when she saw me leaving. As I turned to see her she put her finger up to her mouth to shush me. She saw our opportunity and made the plan herself that while Mom was preoccupied, we would get the mail together so that I could weed out the bills and send them home for Cal to pay. (Yesterday I decided that to pass her junk mail on to her is harmless enough, until she decides to donate. And I was pleased to see most of the mail ripped up and in the wastebasket at the end of the day, with the return address stickers saved in a pile.) As of a few days ago I nearly despaired that I would be able to figure out how to get what we need of the financial mail, because I couldn’t figure how much Kim can understand. She brought me a bill this morning from the bottled water delivery man. I think she’s well on our page.
Gloria’s dementia is quite with us now. I saw in her tiredness yesterday afternoon how very confused she was. It had been a big day, of course, with blood tests and physical therapist and nurse visits. But today, when she should not be suffering from much tiredness, her mind is clearly not what it was. She came to me for help in figuring out the health care visitors’ schedule. There is a big calendar in her home health notebook with appointments written on each day. We sat at the kitchen table while she asked about dates and about people and about times. I shall not chronicle the seven or eight minutes that it took for her to copy over four appointments onto a notepad. One waits cheerfully and patiently, coaching discovery. But in those minutes I realized just how hopeless is her mind. May she totally forget that she long ago turned over her finances to Cal, and may she totally forget that bills were even her domain. I pray that as she sees Kim and me happy together, her soul will be deeply comforted and she will lay down her burdens.
The days are getting happier, with fun, good-natured humor at the meals, and easy ways to help and please and aid. Even Kim is watching out for her, doing favors sometimes, taking responsibility sometimes, or reminding her of what she can’t remember.
And Kim. My, what a memory. And also what a tragedy. I have to wonder often if she would have been a more self-suffficient person had she been trained according to the Word of God. Aside from a slight speech impediment and difficulty with time lapses (she got her nails done on Friday, even though it must have been three weeks ago, she refers to it as last week), I can’t see that she is not quick-witted and capable of most household tasks. She even keeps her own checking account and better than most accounts that Cal has seen. I pray that she will come to love Kilby as I believe she is loving me. And I pray that she will come, in time, to know the gospel. And I pray that the gospel will free her from many things that have held her back, including trash television.
Now don’t get me started on trash tv and trash advertising and trash news, all designed to make souls dependent on our grimy gods of health and wealth and safety. It is shameless. And I think of the elderly who are confused with the rapid decline of our culture and how it panders to them. Oh, Christ, come quickly.
March 25, 2009
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore.
Kim is with the program now. I went out to the garage to return the stepstool I had been using to clean the kitchen blinds. Her mom, Gloria, was at the kitchen table doing her physical therapy exercises. Kim followed me out the door, having grabbed the mailbox keys when she saw me leaving. As I turned to see her she put her finger up to her mouth to shush me. She saw our opportunity and made the plan herself that while Mom was preoccupied, we would get the mail together so that I could weed out the bills and send them home for Cal to pay. (Yesterday I decided that to pass her junk mail on to her is harmless enough, until she decides to donate. And I was pleased to see most of the mail ripped up and in the wastebasket at the end of the day, with the return address stickers saved in a pile.) As of a few days ago I nearly despaired that I would be able to figure out how to get what we need of the financial mail, because I couldn’t figure how much Kim can understand. She brought me a bill this morning from the bottled water delivery man. I think she’s well on our page.
Gloria’s dementia is quite with us now. I saw in her tiredness yesterday afternoon how very confused she was. It had been a big day, of course, with blood tests and physical therapist and nurse visits. But today, when she should not be suffering from much tiredness, her mind is clearly not what it was. She came to me for help in figuring out the health care visitors’ schedule. There is a big calendar in her home health notebook with appointments written on each day. We sat at the kitchen table while she asked about dates and about people and about times. I shall not chronicle the seven or eight minutes that it took for her to copy over four appointments onto a notepad. One waits cheerfully and patiently, coaching discovery. But in those minutes I realized just how hopeless is her mind. May she totally forget that she long ago turned over her finances to Cal, and may she totally forget that bills were even her domain. I pray that as she sees Kim and me happy together, her soul will be deeply comforted and she will lay down her burdens.
The days are getting happier, with fun, good-natured humor at the meals, and easy ways to help and please and aid. Even Kim is watching out for her, doing favors sometimes, taking responsibility sometimes, or reminding her of what she can’t remember.
And Kim. My, what a memory. And also what a tragedy. I have to wonder often if she would have been a more self-suffficient person had she been trained according to the Word of God. Aside from a slight speech impediment and difficulty with time lapses (she got her nails done on Friday, even though it must have been three weeks ago, she refers to it as last week), I can’t see that she is not quick-witted and capable of most household tasks. She even keeps her own checking account and better than most accounts that Cal has seen. I pray that she will come to love Kilby as I believe she is loving me. And I pray that she will come, in time, to know the gospel. And I pray that the gospel will free her from many things that have held her back, including trash television.
Now don’t get me started on trash tv and trash advertising and trash news, all designed to make souls dependent on our grimy gods of health and wealth and safety. It is shameless. And I think of the elderly who are confused with the rapid decline of our culture and how it panders to them. Oh, Christ, come quickly.
posted by Compleat Mom at 5:15 PM
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