When I remember my mom, I remember her living in this house outside of Yellville, Arkansas. Her grandfather Pearce built it. They added rooms and with every room there was an outside door.
It is in the country and she would tell stories of the mountain lions talking to each other in the night. The wild turkeys would travel across her front lawn and on into the woods that surrounded the house.
It was quiet. Too quiet for some. The silence was loud and with all the doors, feeling safe and locked in wasn't always easy!!
The time came when she had to move into my home in Houston. It was the end of life as she knew it. She had no car. She had left her friends. Her world became small and different. I don't think she ever was able to make the transition and find a new challenge and purpose.
I learned one important lesson from the time she came to live with me. As her life was winding down, someday, mine would too. I determined to do my best to keep a focus, a goal. As long as I was able to remain independent, to any degree, I would.
If you are a caregiver, keep your focus. If you can, help that loved one find some sense of worth in their life. As long as an individual feels needed and important, their reason for remaining on earth will make sense. Once that sense of being valuable is gone, so are they.
No comments:
Post a Comment