Over the river and through the woods...

Got to spend this last few days at moms. Left me kind of unsettled.

When I got to her house and walked in the kitchen, I could hear this weak little voice..."help me... someone help me" I ran in the east room but she wasn't there. So I run towards her bedroom and hear the little voice coming out of the bathroom..."help me...I can't get out!"

She was stuck in the bathroom. Somehow, (still can't figure this one out) the cupboard door had come open after she went in the bathroom and had wedged itself up against the bathroom door so there was no way that she could get the door open. ( I had a flash back of being trapped in the bathroom by Leslie pulling out the drawer just outside the door...yes my sweet sister Leslie did that to me! Then she would say "we are all going to leave and you will never get out!" I can still feel the total panic and claustrophobia! ...maybe that explains some of my mental problems now.) Anywho, back to mom. I shut the cupboard all the way and opened the door to the bathroom and mom was standing there looking like she was about to pass out.

She said she had been in there for about an hour and a half. She said she felt really weak and needed to sit down. She had really worked herself into a tizzy (don't blame her) and was quite exhausted. I helped her into the east room and we sat for a while till she felt better.

We were trying to figure out how the cupboard door opened, she was pretty upset about it.

I told her to just not shut the bathroom door all the way...no one else is there in the house!

I was pretty upset about it too! I thought about what would have happened if I had not been coming to her house that morning. The home health lady had already been there, so no one else would have come all day. It didn't occur to her to push the alert button she wears around her neck. I'm afraid that's what would happen if she would fall too. Her memory was really bad this visit. She would forget what she was doing right while she was doing it!

I was helping her get out to the back bathroom to take a shower, and on the way out there, she said "where are we going?" I told her (for the fifth time) " to take a shower"

Then when I was helping her get her support stockings off (this is a workout in itself) she said "what are you doing?" I told her I was helping her get undressed so she could get in the shower. "Oh I don't need a shower, I just took one"

"No, that was a few days ago mom."

"Ok then...what should I do now?"

"Well, let's get your clothes off so you can get in the shower"

"I just had a shower"

Oh dear.

This went on for about an hour.

This is a lesson of patience for both of us. I know she gets so frustrated with herself because she can't remember. My heart aches for her as I watch her try to do simple tasks, then in the middle of it, she will forget what she is even doing.

We had some good time's while I was there too. We were reading in the paper about the Bar S Wrangler's coming to town for their Christmas show and she told me all about how she had gone to it the year before. She remembered it vividly... how there was so many people there...where they sat and what songs they sang. She said she would sure like to go again, but didn't think she could cause she couldn't get around well enough. I'll have to talk to Leslie about that.

Anyway, I was looking through her music and found a CD they had bought at this show last year so I put that on and we listened to it and sang to it while I made some candy for Kelley's dad's party.

When we got up Saturday morning, it was snowing lightly They had predicted that the storm wouldn't come in till later but before long it was really coming down. I called the road conditions and they said Sardine Canyon was hazardous and to use 4 wheel drive or chains. The Tahoe goes good in the snow, so I wasn't too worried, but decided I better get on my way home before it got any worse. Mum was awful worried about me driving in the snow, so she said a special prayer for me to be safe before I left. love you mom ! This is what it looked like on the drive through Sardine Canyon

Scary stuff. It was so cold that the snow would freeze on the windshield wipers and the window, making it pretty hard to see. There were wrecks all over the place and it was definitely a white knuckle drive. I just went slow and prayed a lot.

When I came out the other side of the canyon into Brigham city, it was like coming into a different world. It wasn't even snowing and the roads were just wet. Wow what a difference the elevation can make! I sailed along the rest of the way and was sure glad and grateful to get home safely. Called mom as soon as I got home because I knew she would be worrying about me.