Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Day Visit

Today went very well. I arrived about 11 a.m. and Mom was in the recreation room watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. They started seating at 11:30. I actually sat at the head of Mom's table to her left, she sitting in her regular seat. Two of her regular dinner mates had been picked up by their families and gone with them for dinner.

Mom wasn't feeling too well and complained of a stomach ache. That's Mom's Alzheimer's code for, "I gotta take a wicked shit!"

I took her to her room before we went to the dining room but that was uneventful. She was holding her stomach when they served the meal. I have to say that they did an impressive job. Turkey (white and dark meat), stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed squash, cranberry jelly, and a roll. The plate was full with plenty of gravy. We were offered apple or pumpkin pie. I chose apple and it seemed home made.

Mother Dear started slowly. A couple times she zoned out and then came back from wherever she was and had to refocus on me and who I was. I gently suggested she just have some mashed potatoes and maybe that would calm her stomach. She started slow but ended up eating the entire plate. Mom wanted ice cream so I had them bring a scoop of vanilla with some chocolate syrup drizzled over it. One of the ladies said that Mom finishes her food every meal and always eats more than they do. No wonder she has belly aches!

My grandmother always put on a huge spread for Thanksgiving and dinner time was promptly at 2. Supper, which was essentially a second grazing of dinner, was at half time of the Dallas Cowboys football game we all watched on television.

Everyone had their favorite dish as the years went by so poor Grandma had to work like crazy to bring it all together for the 10 of us.

Turkey (Grandfather always got the tail), stuffing, mashed potatoes (Uncle), boiled onions (Grandfather), turnip (Grandmother), baked oysters (Mother), cranberry jelly (Father), cranberry relish (Aunt), banana bread (Me), garlic bread (Cousin), raspberry jello w/ whipped cream on top (Brother), apple pie, mincemeat pie, and pumpkin pie.
That was the menu every year when I was growing up. Green beans seem to be a staple now but we never had them even though everyone liked them. Grandma worked so hard and did it well into her 70's!

After Mom and I finished, I led her back to her room. There was a dog show on the television (the Scottish Terrier won Best In Show) that I watched and she laid on the bed, closed her eyes, and relaxed. I stripped off her old nail polish and put new on.

I sneaked out when she'd fallen asleep.

It was a good day! :)

4 comments:

Greg said...

That does sound like a good day, and probably a lot less stressful than it would have been at home.

I'm amused that you've hit on a similar exit strategy to myself of leaving when your Mom snoozes. I've started leaving just as Mum needs the bathroom, saying my goodbye and hoping that I've skipped her mind by the time she's done. I suspect, though, that it might be MY distress that I'm trying to avoid.

The Care Home you found sound pretty good with the choice of desserts and all. And your Mom seems to have my Mum's appetite. There's some bizarre physics involved that means there's ALWAYS room for something sweet at the end, no matter how much a struggle went on to finish the main course :D

Latane Barton said...

What a good day indeed. Thanksgiving filled with memories of times past and the quiet time just with Mom now. I am always so thankful for the good days.

citygirl said...

Lovely visit. I'm so happy for you :)

Lacey said...

Happy Holidays.