Sorry for my absence here... but let's see if I can catch this up.
Friday afternoon, my mom had an emotional crisis; and I believe, had a TIA. She refused to go to the hospital, and came to my home for a "sleep-over" to try to get her calmed down and a bit more settled. Things.... evolved.
Over the course of the weekend, it became quite apparent that she needed more help than she was willing to admit. And while my husband, daughter and I were checking in with her multiple times a day (with increasing frequency over the past year)... and she was coming to eat dinner nightly with us... it just wasn't enough.
We are now in the process of clearing out my daughter's bedroom, and hope to paint, decorate, and furnish it for my mom. Kristin, has been exploring all kinds of alternative living arrangements within our (980+ square foot, 2 bedroom home)... and we think we might have a really good option coming in the near future. For now, things are a bit crazy, but we are all together... we are warm, fed, and sheltered.
In the meantime, we've been trying to get some semblance of a routine started... and have been occupying her thoughts with lots of vintage movies and music that she loves. Yesterday, an enormous tree collapsed and took out a couple transformers and power lines in our neighborhood; causing the power to be out all afternoon and into the evening. So... we had a fire in the fireplace (mom was cold), candles all over... and I played her a movie on my laptop while she snuggled our pup ZeeZe (who has fallen in love with my mom and often curls up at her feet). Meals have been simple, but nutritious... and she has been sleeping and eating better than she probably has in a long while. There are lots of things to figure out... but because I work from home, this seemed the best solution, as I can be with her all the time.
And... tomorrow is Thanksgiving.
I have no idea how this will all pan out. That said, when I promised my dad back in 2010 that I would take care of mom; I meant it. Moving back here to PA in 2013 (and only a block from my mom's house) was a major shift in that care... and now we've another huge shift.
Much love to you all, and I will try to post tomorrow.