My daughter Milo and me at the beach
I went to see my mother today at the Alzheimer's care facility and I think she knew me, although I'm not certain. She seemed dazed.
I heard little in the way of Alzheimer's poetry from her today. For the poet in her mind, it was not a good day. She did say, "I'm slower than dirt." This is a new twist on the long-standing family joke that whatever dinner we had just partaken was "Better than eating dirt." But it was true. She was slower than dirt today.
She looked down at the flower bed as she inched her way in the walker from the patio to her room, and she said very clearly, "Yes, it's a mushroom." I went over and looked. There was a flowering plant with some bark ground cover around it. I said, "It IS a mushroom, Mom." I smiled at her. She smiled back.
Smiles are good. I love the smiles in the photo above, taken by my kid as a self-portrait when we all went to the coast last weekend. Sorry she cut herself out of it.
But here's a photo of her, so you can see how beautiful she is.
And this is what the Pacific Ocean looked like on the central coast of California last weekend. Milo is playing "Run from the Waves" with our four-year-old Jacob.
So what can make you smile when you're caught in a hard place?
17 comments:
My grandbabies never fail to make me smile. Four little bundles of love.
your mother looks terrific!
thanks for sharing the love!
yeah those pics would do the trick for me...spending time with my boys...
I think "slower than dirt" well qualifies as poetry. What makes me smile when times are bad? I always try to think - well at least I haven't got toothache.
Good memories can make you smile and making new memories...like the one of you and your daughter...she is beautiful and has a lovely smile!
This definately made me smile too! :)
Answer: friends like you, especiallly when I'm nervous!
My children, a special song, my garden, my blogging friends...
Looks like wonderful memories were made that day at the beach.
Do you still get to visit your mom on a weekly basis? Have things settled down in her world?
'Slower than dirt' is rather metaphorical, actually, and she recognised that about herself, too.
I love the silhouetted picture of Milo and Jacob standing at the edge of the ocean.
What makes me smile when I'm feeling blue ... good coffee, the scent of freshly laundered sheets, hugs from my grandchildren, my husband's tuneless whistle when he's working on a project ....
What can make me smile these days if I am feeling stressed or in pain is to remember where I was in 2008 and I am feeling better right away because I am not there any longer.
Milo is beautiful...Your Mother is profound, whether she knows it or not, and that wonderful time at the beach is the stuff of great memories. You always make me think, tough place or not...
Sounds like it was a great day with your Mother, poetry or no poetry. The smell of freshly cut grass never fails to make me smile. Take care!
Right now I am smiling reading this and especially viewing the photos of your smiling mother, Mile, and your 4-yr-old playing hide-and-seek with waves.
Also I feel SO glad and happy when I eyeball a room filled with 100-150 recovering Peeps...don't know if I'm SMILING then, but probably so.
I hope we have "dirt" for dinner tonight --grin!
I like hearing about your mother. She tugs at my heart. When I'm in a hard place, my dogs are there to love on me and make me smile. There are more dependable than most people.
great memories...awesome pics.
What a simply lovely post today Enchanted.
And what can make me smile when I'm caught in a hard place ? Your blog.
Thank you for sharing.
"Slower than dirt" - sounds like a poem to me. My hubs and cats have always been a huge source of comfort to me. I'll have to rmeember that mantra: at least I haven't got toothache (unless, of course, I've got toothache!).
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