Life has been beyond goofy lately. I got my mom signed up for Hospice care this morning. As Emma Thompson wrote: "There is a very great difference between the expectation of an unpleasant event and its final certainty." The woman who did the interview with me, then a second evaluation of Mom, was kindness itself and her generosity and gentleness was much appreciated. Mom isn't on the verge of dropping off the twig in the next 20 minutes, but her decline since Dad's death has been rather precipitous. She still has moments of some sort of lucidity ~ this morning I was pushing her in her wheelchair in the garden at the place she lives and I asked her to pick up her feet so they wouldn't drag; she mumbled something about eyes and legs and I said, "Well, don't put your legs in your eyes." She looked up at me and said, "OK," and laughed. It probably sounded like something my dad would have said. Or my sister or my brothers ... oh, Lord, the whole family is like that! I think we will be all right with the Hospice concept once we all get our heads around it. She does need an enhanced level of care now and I'm just so glad it's available. She will be taken in her time, but we want her to be as comfortable as possible until then.
Glorious Daughter-in-Law (and that's pronounced to rhyme with "laughter") and the perfectly Grand Kids are coming during their Christmas break. What fun!!! They will be here long enough to play with but not long enough for us all to get sick of each other. I find that I'm more entertaining in small doses. I have purchased tickets for the Christmas Candlelight Tour at Biltmore for us. (see earlier post) This year I should be able to ambulate around the house without gritting my teeth and scaring small children and the horses. Fortunately, my grandchildren pay no attention to Gram's funny faces. I suppose this also means that I will have to do something about a Christmas tree. I keep threatening to buy a wonderful fake tree in August every year, but always end up with a cut tree and pine needles all over the living room. Ah well, it keeps the cats amused and once the dogs understand that this isn't bringing the beauty and grace of the forest into the house (read: to be marked), we all get along reasonably well. The wonderful, sentimental ornaments at eye level and above; the sacrificial ornaments down where the cats can bat them around and think they are getting away with something.
Oh, huzzah, hurray ~ it appears that the last of the small electronic devices has been restored to it's new, improved self. Or something. So, having downloaded two movies onto the iPad, I shall now throw my cape over my shoulder and sashay into the bedroom with my pack of hounds in close pursuit. Oh, one last image to take away with you: I was organizing my scarves, wraps and capes in the closet this evening and my tatty old mink neck-piece fell off an upper shelf and nearly scared the living daylights out of me. I have watched all the X-men movies lately and I probably thought a mutant was jumping out at me ...
The universe probably doesn't conform to the views of ~ how did Chesterton put it? ~ "a slightly sleepy businessman after lunch." It's bigger and stranger than that. Still, I've never doubted for a moment that it makes sense. It follows laws we can grasp if we once get hold of them.
(Judith Eubank)
