The Bus Ride

Yesterday was a great day off from Caregiving for my husband and me.  Both of us having the day off, I had my mom go to Day Care and I made massage appointments for both my husband and me.

I found a great massage therapist.  I've been experiencing numbness in my arms, mostly my left arm.  The pain comes from my back, where our angel wings sprout when we get them.  Maybe my angel self has been working overtime?  Actually,  I believe the muscle knots are caused from the way I sit at my computer and write.  I've definitely got to figure out a better way to work come Tuesday when I start my paying job.

Knowing that I start work on Tuesday, I thought I'd give it a try where the bus drives my mom home from Day Care.  I told her that she'd be on the first bus. 

Big mistake. 

She didn't get on the bus until almost 4pm!  The first bus leaves at 3pm and it was full of the regulars.  My mom just started to go to this place during the day so she doesn't get first dibs on a ride time.  I wonder if it's like one of those waiting lists where you have to wait for someone to die in order to take their place?

I was expecting my mom to show up at home about 3:15, 3:30 the latest.  It was about 3:45PM and I found myself turning into my mother!  I was pacing, looking out the window, cracked the door open so that I could sit on the sofa and watch the driveway.  No Bus.  No Ma.  I called the place, no answer... voice mail.  What the Fuck!?

My husband was home so I told him that I was going out looking for her.  I hopped in the car and drove first to Blaire House, watching for the van. No Van.  I got to the place, the door was open so I went in.  I saw our day nurse sitting watching TV.  I asked her, "Where is my mother?"  I was frantic, like a mother looking for her little defenseless child.

The nurse, holding back a laugh, told me that my mom got on the bus about 15 minutes prior to my arrival.  She assured me that she is on her way home.   The nurse told me that my mom kept going to the door looking for me.  She told the nurse, "I know my daughter is coming, she's never late."  The nurse told her that she was taking the bus home and needed to wait a little longer.  This did not settle well with my mom.  She waited.  She was gracious to the nurse, but in her mind she was preparing to let me have a piece of it when she saw me.

I got home in 10 minutes and waited.

The van didn't pull into the driveway until after 5pm!  The driver got lost.  My mother was on a bus with as she describes, a Russian lady who only swore in Russian (not sure how she knew she was swearing in Russian, my mom only speaks English) and another woman who was horrified of the foreign lady. 

In the driveway, when she got off the bus, she came over to me and hugged me.  "Oh thank God!  I thought I was going to die.  It was scary.  I never thought I'd see you again.  The foreign lady, I think she was Russian.  She started to swear.  She tried to steal my beautiful red hat.  We were driving and driving.  I think we went by our old house, the other lady on the bus, she didn't want me to leave her there alone with the swearing lady... can I have some ice cream?  I've been a good girl."  All of this said in a flow of consciousness, without skipping a beat.  The ice cream request made us laugh so how could I say no?

My mom carried on about the bus ride for a couple of hours.  She was totally confused and had no idea that she was home.  She thought she was going back to the house in Groveland that we sold in 2008 when we moved in with my new husband. 

In her bedroom she has a lot of the furniture from our old house.  I gave her 2 cognifactors with 4 helleborus niger 30c pellets to put under her tongue to dissolve.  Within 30 minutes, she was beginning to realize that she was in her home and was in her room with her old familiar furniture.

After dinner I gave her some ice cream with a few drops of Fenugreek to make sure the sugar didn't raise her blood glucose.  My mom smiled as I gave her the ice cream and said, "Here's some ice cream for being a good girl."  She said, "Awww, just like my Ma, she used to say, "Florencia, you taka josie to da sto ana buya hera somea icea creama... she'sa beena a gooda girla."  Followed by a burst of laughter from my little mom, elated to have a dish of blackberry ice cream, just like her momma used to get for her.

My mom was exhausted from the day and barely made it to 8pm.  She did have a good day at the Day Care, it's fun for her there because she's making friends.  The nurse is very nice, she's good with my mom.  She'll go every day next week, Tuesday through Friday.  I'll drop her off and pick her up.  I promised her that she won't have to take another bus ride and every day that she goes to Blaire House, she can have some ice cream.