Only 16 months after boogie-boarding in San Diego, my Mother went into hospital at death's door, weighing 75 pounds. I will never know what happened during those 16 months to cause such a change. Dementia may have set in, and/or depression. Whatever occurred, it was not brought to anyone's attention until I received a call to come to Arizona, which I did; I stayed for six weeks during April 2001.
Much happened during those six weeks, most of it unpleasant. My Mother has always been my Father's rock, and suddenly, the rock was no longer there.
He became more and more angry, until finally I became the focus of his anger . . . the person to 'blame' for the situation and for my Mother's dementia, even though they had moved away from me in 1976. After he had finally convinced me to move to Yuma to take care of my Mother, he did a complete turnaround and tried to have me banned from the hospital, who then assigned me a security guard whenever I visited my Mother.
(It was during this time that I heard my mother play the piano in the activities room.)
Two weeks later, she was released to go home;
I returned to Kenosha the same day.
My next visit was in August of 2002 . . .
COMMENTARY:
* The plaque on the wall behind my Mother is something I made years & years ago out of pieces of old weathered barn wood and dried flowers; this is her equivalent of putting my elementary-school drawings on the refrigerator.
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