90 Years of Complaining
Earlier this month, Mom turned 90. We went up there for her birthday. Stopped by Giant (DC/MD/VA grocery store chain) on the way from the airport and brought her cake, flowers, and sparkling grape juice and had a little party in her room. I assumed the sparkling grape juice had a screw-on cap, but it needed a bottle opener. Fortunately, when I went down and asked, the kitchen of the assisted living facility was willing to lend me a corkscrew with a bottle opener on the end, as well as three forks for the cake. Much of Mom’s flatware has disappeared in the year and a half that she’s been there. :o/
At Curmudgeon’s suggestion, I got her a big magnifying glass that lights up what you’re looking at (battery-operated) on a heavy base that you can, alternatively, clamp to a tabletop. The idea was to clamp it to her bedside table so she can see the numbers on the phone, which she has lately complained she can’t see. I also printed out my name and phone number on a sheet of paper from MS Word in a 72-point font because she’s had trouble calling me, reading the number she’s written on little slips of paper. The employees there have also had trouble sometimes when she’s asked them to dial my number for her. I realized why, as I threw away the slips of paper, some of which had the number written incorrectly. I put the printout next to her phone. I wish I had a laminator. She didn’t want the magnifier by the phone, though, and asked us to leave it on the kitchenette table. I’ll be surprised if she even uses it.
Our second evening there, I visited Kirby Hall. We took her and her husband out to dinner and then went over to her house. She and her (grown) son were very excited to show me his Lego Lord of the Rings Rivendell set which lights up, which he’d just completed, so excited I hadn’t even taken off my coat or backpack. (Sounds geeky, but it was pretty neat.) Then we spent a lot of time at the top of the stairs with my backpack underfoot threatening to trip everyone to an untimely death, looking at her collection of the autograph of every English monarch since James I which she has mounted on the hallway wall, followed by the adult offspring bringing out the cats and introducing them to us (a process which I later named the Presenting of Cats). Her dog is, as always, adorable.
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I had an EGD today to follow up on an ulcer I had a couple of years ago. Looked fine, just waiting for results of some biopsies. When the nurse went to get Curmudgeon from the waiting area afterwards, Curmudgeon asked him, “Did she say she loves you?”
“No. Why?”
“She does that sometimes.”
At Curmudgeon’s suggestion, I got her a big magnifying glass that lights up what you’re looking at (battery-operated) on a heavy base that you can, alternatively, clamp to a tabletop. The idea was to clamp it to her bedside table so she can see the numbers on the phone, which she has lately complained she can’t see. I also printed out my name and phone number on a sheet of paper from MS Word in a 72-point font because she’s had trouble calling me, reading the number she’s written on little slips of paper. The employees there have also had trouble sometimes when she’s asked them to dial my number for her. I realized why, as I threw away the slips of paper, some of which had the number written incorrectly. I put the printout next to her phone. I wish I had a laminator. She didn’t want the magnifier by the phone, though, and asked us to leave it on the kitchenette table. I’ll be surprised if she even uses it.
Our second evening there, I visited Kirby Hall. We took her and her husband out to dinner and then went over to her house. She and her (grown) son were very excited to show me his Lego Lord of the Rings Rivendell set which lights up, which he’d just completed, so excited I hadn’t even taken off my coat or backpack. (Sounds geeky, but it was pretty neat.) Then we spent a lot of time at the top of the stairs with my backpack underfoot threatening to trip everyone to an untimely death, looking at her collection of the autograph of every English monarch since James I which she has mounted on the hallway wall, followed by the adult offspring bringing out the cats and introducing them to us (a process which I later named the Presenting of Cats). Her dog is, as always, adorable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had an EGD today to follow up on an ulcer I had a couple of years ago. Looked fine, just waiting for results of some biopsies. When the nurse went to get Curmudgeon from the waiting area afterwards, Curmudgeon asked him, “Did she say she loves you?”
“No. Why?”
“She does that sometimes.”