Once inside, I called my mom in Jamaica. Her caregiver Penny told me that she had eaten very well that day, oatmeal for breakfast, a bowl of soup for lunch with chicken and root vegetables smoothly pureed, yogurt in the afternoon. She is swallowing better, and her appetite has returned. We chatted a bit, and her voice sounded quite strong, though her words are now blurry. Apparently she had a fever last week and was prescribed antibiotics. They seem to have brought her back around, whatever that means. We said her favorite prayer together, the one she used to say with her grandchildren every night before bed. We said I love you. She said we are blessed.
After that, I watched House of Cards and dozed, hardly getting out of bed. I was fast asleep under the covers when my son got home at almost ten in the evening. He came into my room and kissed me on my forehead and put his mitt-sized hand on my hair. It was such a filial thing to do. I was touched.
Here's a photo of my boy that I ran across. His face is all manly angles these days and this photo shows him in the moment before those angles started to emerge. He was 12. It was taken right before his confirmation by the Episcopal Bishop of New York, who happened to be Jamaican-born and a lifelong friend of my parents. The Bishop, a man ever kind to our family, died late last year. His grandson was born a month after. Cycle of life.
I am glad that your mother is feeling better and eating again. This must be some relief, at least.
ReplyDeleteYour precious son. That precious moment caught in the photo.
Boy to man. Don't blink.
Love you.
Ms Moon, it is a relief. I try to be in the now and not think about what's coming.
DeleteI too binge-watched House of Cards. So glad you're mom is eating.
ReplyDeleteA, I confess I find House of Cards very addictive even though almost all of the characters are appalling. Makes me grateful that I feel absolutely no political ambition!
DeleteThank you for letting us inside of all of this. "Filial." I like that word.
ReplyDeleteGrady doc, i love to see you here. i know how busy you are. Hugs.
DeleteThanks for letting us know how your mother and you are doing. Hugs to you.
ReplyDeletee, i felt a strange responsibility to report that things were better, to not let the direness of that last post stand. xo
DeleteI'm glad your mom is feeling better. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maggie May!
DeleteWait. Was it YOUR birthday???
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm a May baby, like Oliver. It was a friend's birthday, the mother of a boy who went to nursery school with my son and then our boys went to the same schools all the way through high school. Last year, after stints living in Philly and DC, the mother moved into the building next to mine, so now we are also neighbors.
DeleteI'm glad your mom is eating better. We watched the first episode of the new season of "House of Cards" and there's so much I've forgotten that I'm COMPLETELY confused. Why do they let so much time elapse between seasons?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog, too -- I feel certain some retreat time is exactly what I've needed!
Steve, my son is re-watching seasons 1 and 2 before he watches the new season, which really just means he dozes off in front of the episodes each night! Me? I'm almost all the way through the new season, which I do think is compulsively watchable, even if there are things from the previous seasons I've forgotten.
DeleteI'm sure I'll pick it up as I go along. I'm only one episode in so far! BTW, did you get my e-mail? Send me your snail mail address, when you get a chance, if you don't mind. :)
DeleteSo glad to hear more encouraging news re your mom. My mother has had these swallowing issues, then poof, they are gone. I think stresses add up--illnesses, aches, medications, etc. and for a moment the body says, no more.
ReplyDelete