Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Back

Sorry for leaving all of you without warning. I had to run up to Denver on short notice. For a while there last week it appeared that my 90-year-old mom wasn't going to make it out of the hospital where she'd been taken for runaway diarrhea. Well, long story short. She's much better. Praise be to God. And I'm back. And more convinced than ever that living to a great age is not all it's cracked up to be. My mother is in as state-of-the-art facility for old people as there is, probably, given my knowledge of the subject. As I remarked to my sisters, this is what people with money can afford . . . and it's still horrible. And it's unspeakable for most of the greatly aged in our country who are not with family. They are warehoused in places and in the charge of "caregivers" far less desirable than the situation my mom has.

There is simply no getting around the fact that taking leave of this life imposes a great burden upon the vast majority of us. And the older I get, the less I like to be reminded of the fact.

2 comments:

Christine said...

So glad your mom is better. My mom always told me it was the impersonal care my grandfather received in the hospital when he was dying that in part prompted her to go to LVN school.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Christine. She is physically better, but this is first time I've seen how bad her memory has gotten. It's bad. My sisters have been telling me about it, but now I really know what they mean. She is still in skilled nursing. Supposed to go back to her place, right across the parking lot, tomorrow.