2008 was a year that had many changes for us. Before May of 2008, I was traveling back and forth between Alexandria and Baton Rouge at least once a month; spending days and sometimes weeks in Alexandria handling necessary chores for my Mom. I would convice Mom to visit us here in Baton Rouge for a few weeks at a time, but she would always return to her home.
In May of 2008 we came to accept that changes needed to be made in regards with Mom's care. After a lifetime of taking care of all her needs and doing such a good job of it, she was coming into a time of needing someone else to do the everyday things she no longer was able to do. She was not aware of this change, but we were.
It is not an easy decision to make - force your parent into a life change they do not think they are not ready for. I'm not ready to be the one forcing the issue, but... It hurts to see the woman I always looked up to, the woman who was able to help me through my troubles, not be able to make good decisions for herself. I was losing my mother as I knew her.
So, at the end of May we packed her bags and brought Mom to Baton Rouge. Although we gently told her she would be staying in BR, she was not accepting that word. After 35 years of living in the same home with neighbors and friends around town, Mom was not giving up her "life" so easily.
We could see Mom was not doing well when she came home with us, and within 10 days, she was in the hospital for a 5 day stay to fight infection that was building in her body over several months.
After getting her back home, Mom went through 6 weeks of rehab to strengthen her body. But we could see her current memory and daily functioning was degrading. (after almost a year, Mom speaks about her hospital stay as just having happened, that she is recuperating, and that she will be going back to Alex. sometime soon.)
In the midst of Mom's physical illness and recovery, Harry had a "heart incident" and was hospitalized for a heart cath. and ended with a stint being placed in an artery that was 99% blocked. His story to follow at another time.
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