This photo is from about two years ago with me, my Mom – Gladys, and Emily. Mom is holding Cloudy. Yesterday, my brothers and their wives and Doug and I gathered at the home of my Mom’s dearly departed second husband. His family, who live in the same farmyard, have provided loving support to my Mom in the years since John died. This past December my Mom lived with my oldest brother and now my mother is living at Florence’s house, at Craik, where she is receiving professional care.
My Mom is in excellent health for her 86 years, but she has been losing her memory in significant drops over the past six years. The Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon has a geriatric assessment unit and Mom has had all the tests. She does not have Alzheimer’s, rather it is dementia caused by series of mini strokes. No one stroke is very serious but the cumulative damage has left her with virtually no short term memory. She might remember that we stopped to visit her yesterday, but probably not. The irony of her memory loss is that she still has her social nature and loves to visit. If you didn’t know her you wouldn’t understand why she can’t live on her own … and the saddest part is … she doesn’t understand why she can’t go back to the farm.
Just before my Mom married John and moved to his farm (about 14 years ago), she had an auction sale to dispose of all her antiques and collectibles. At that time, us kids received the bulk of Mom’s memorabilia. But there was still much to go through and many surprises to find – including some keepsakes from when Mom & Dad where married. Their wedding anniversary was yesterday and it would have been 62 years. I hadn’t ever seen those items before.
It was great to be with family. It was lots of work. It was sad.