Yesterday
she was definitely on one of her highs.
We ate some lunch sitting on the couch together, as we do most days, and
she was amazed that we would do such a thing.
It was a wonderful, picnic-y kind of idea. She apparently enjoyed it immensely, because
she informed Chris, “This is the best lunch I have had in a long time.” Later she jumped up from the couch, grabbed
her walker (thank goodness), and took off.
I thought she might be heading out the front door, so I stayed close
behind. She did pause for a second or
two by the door, but then she continued on, as if she was taking a walking tour
of every room of the house. We paused to
take a break in the office, but she never stopped talking. One of her concerns was a small hole that has
developed in one of her gloves. She had
a solution for that, though. “Will you
take me to the store so I can buy some new gloves?” I assured her we would get that taken care
of. Kitchen, hallway, office, bedrooms,
all met with her vocal approval. Finally
she turned to me and said, “This is a wonderful house. I can see why you want to stay here.” After our tour she was back on the couch when
an old neighbor of hers called to check on her.
Martha lived two doors down from us on 36th and L before we
moved to Gulf Village when I was five years old. I wondered if even Manic Meemaw would
remember who she was. But I handed her
the phone and said, “Martha wants to talk to you.” She immediately reacted with her typical, “Martha? No kidding.”
She grabbed the phone and the two of them reminisced and compared notes
on aches and pains for a good fifteen minutes or so. When she hung up she told me about some of the
things they had discussed, and then asked what Martha’s last name was. She remembered Martha, without question, but just
couldn’t locate that last name. I
totally understand that feeling. Happens
to me every week at church, but I usually can’t remember the first name,
either.
Later
that evening Mom went through all the old cards people have sent her over the
years. She asked us who each one was,
and began making a list. She would read
each name, then ask us who it was and whether she should send them a card. We think she was making out some kind of
Christmas card list.
And
when the people began to arrive for our home group Bible Study, she transformed
into the consummate hostess. She stood
up to welcome people as they came in.
And at one point, she came into the kitchen to make sure Chris had set
up the cookies and drinks to serve to people.
I really knew something was up when she turned down a cookie for
herself. I recognized that
strategy. It’s called “You can’t eat
until everybody else is served and happy.”
It’s one of those strange things that only Moms do. M.M. carried on a conversation with Betty all
through the Bible study. She explained
that her sweater used to belong to her mother (That came out of nowhere. It is brand-new), and her leg and ankle had
been swollen terribly and had finally gone down. She asked me what it was that happened to
cause that. Caught me by surprise,
because that hasn’t happened any time recently.
So I said, “It must have been a mosquito bite.” She wasn’t impressed by my attempt at humor,
but she did, nevertheless, recognize it as such. She didn’t laugh by any means, though. Her reaction was more as if I had just said
the worst pun in the history of pun-dom.
Manic
Meemaw stayed with us through about 2 a.m.
I know that because even after she went to bed, she kept talking to
someone. Something about “does it need
to be locked up?” Chris checked on her
to see what needed to be locked up. It
was her arm. Chris assured her that it
was fine for the night and didn’t need to be corralled. Her response?
“No kidding?” But she was fine
with that, and it never came up again. I
guess she had too much else to talk about.
But
the next time she woke up, around 3 a.m., Manic Meemaw was nowhere to be
found. Instead she had transformed into
Oblivious Oralee. That personality is
accompanied by moans and groans and sometimes even wails like she is in extreme
pain. We rush to help and she has no
idea what we are talking about. Even the
tiniest sense of discomfort transforms into a major crisis of pain and
agony. And O.O. stuck around for the rest
of the night, rearing her cries about every hour, and now into the morning. What an adventure this has become.
Deuteronomy
30:16 says, “For I command you today to
love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees
and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you
in the land you are entering to possess.”
Father,
watch over “both of these dear ladies” under our care. Thank you for that one thing that holds those
two personalities together – the truth that they have within them the same precious
gift of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
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