There is a time for tears… and a time for laughter. As frustrating as things have been with my mom lately, it was such a joy to see her happy at her birthday party. No kidding, she had about 165 people there! (She said you can always count on a good turn out at a retirement community when there is free food, wine and ice cream!). But seriously, she has lived at Greenspring Village for ten years now, since the property opened, and she has many dear friends. She requested “no gifts” since she said she was trying to get rid of stuff not get more stuff, but she got many lovely cards from friends which she so enjoyed.
I had decided before I went that this weekend that it wasn’t going to be about her driving issues and I stuck with that until just before I left for the airport. She had gotten the results from her driving assessment back and she finally did show them to me. She failed three out of five areas so she is going to talk to her primary care physician since her doctor would automatically be getting the results. Maybe that will help. (I’m not counting on it, but it is one more layer of support.)
My brother was taking me to the airport and since we were both there, we simple asked her what she was going to do about her driving. She said, “Well, I’ve decided I’m not going to drive any more…, …., … well, except just to church and maybe to the store or only when it’s necessary.” UGH!
She’s been upset because she thought she should sell her car. I suggested that she think about not selling her car but hiring someone to drive her a day or two a week using her car.
She said she’d think about that. It’s a start.
In the meantime, I’m so grateful for my mom. She has been such a rock all her life and she cared for my dad for 22 years after he had a stroke. It is hard for both of us to view each other differently now that things have changed.
But for this one afternoon, she was the center of attention and we celebrated her long life. What an incredible blessing.
Oh yeah,one other thing. Sunday night, Steph and I went to dinner with her at Greenspring. Mom’s hearing with hearing aids isn’t great but sometimes I forget. We picked up our menus and the soup of the day was “Chili”. I said to her, “I think I’ll order the Chili. That sounds good.” She looked over and said, “I agree. That’s why I brought a sweater!” When we broke up laughing, we told mom what we were laughing about and she started to laugh, too. I’m really grateful she still has a sense of humor!!!
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