Trip With Mom, Part 2

Mom socialized a little bit and nibbled at the spread that had been set out. Tim had let me know a smaller group of us would go to dinner after the gathering. The restaurant was only six blocks away but it had started raining and so we (11 of us) piled into various cars and drove over.

We were seated at a long table and, as it turned out, there were two people between me and mom. I was OK with this for several reasons. It would encourage her to socialize without leaning on me for cues, I wouldn’t have to listen to her loops, some of which are very difficult to hear over and over, nor would I have to hear her grouse about why things were taking so long or how bad/different the food was. Dinner was really pleasant.

The restaurant was 1.5 blocks from our hotel. 7 of us were staying there. 5 of us walked back wishing for a longer stroll, even in the damp, in order to walk off a little dinner. As I met up with mom in the lobby, she asked what I thought of dinner. I said my dish had been wonderful. She, of course, didn’t hesitate to inform me that hers was just horrible and she’d never eat there again. 

I agreed to meet with another of the day’s attendees in the bar and took mom with me. Mom had a glass of wine while we had ginger ale. The conversation was freewheeling and fun. After a while Mom firmly grabbed ahold of it and started her ‘loop track.’ We went from talking about music, airplanes, cars and geography to how her mother expected her to have the additional babies her mother couldn’t have because her father had a vasectomy during the war….

Mom excused herself after a while. We sat and talked dementia. My acquaintance helps his parents care for his grandmother. It seems I run into more people caretaking than those who don’t these days.

We finished up our conversation by discussing aggressive camber on vehicles. 

I got in and to bed when mom said she wanted me to leave the bathroom light on and then had me adjust the door the way she wanted it. She got up three times during the night. And snored, tho quietly. I confess to fashioning myself Kleenex earplugs. The bed, thankfully, was very comfortable.

In the morning she showered first and then interupted me in the bathroom three times.

Next: The following day ~ Invented truths and forgotten facts