My sister, Mary and I were able to get out of the house early this morning and visit with mom for a little while. When we arrived we found her in her wheelchair up against her bathroom sink looking at herself in the mirror and crying. I called to her and she didn't recognize me. "?Quien eres?" This was the first time I can recall that she did not recognize who I was. I reminded her it was me and she cried some more and apologized for not remembering.
We quickly tried to get her out of this mood and wheeled her out to the visiting area....nice TV rec room where other patients were "watching" the Olympics.
We talked for a while and teased, as she often does, until she got tired, snapped at us and told us that she didn't like what we were saying!! She decided she needed to take a nap. Basically she was dismissing us and got in a snippy mood...we wheeled her towards her room but the nurses told us she needed to stay by their desks and unless we were going to be in the room with her she was not to be left alone. Mom was done, so we took some pictures, entertained her for a few more minutes trying to get her out of her foul mood before she was taken into therapy. If we leave her while she is in a bad mood, she will brood about it all day and will remember only that. Not that we had a good talk or that we read to her or played with her or showed her pictures of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. (BTW--I show her pictures of the kids everyday and she tries to remember their names)
Today, she looked lovely all dressed in her nice pink sweater and wearing jeans. Mary & I came home and got to work filling out some papers to be sent to the Bexar County Dispute Resolutions Center. Tony suggested that we let it rest because we do have visitation rights at the moment. Our fear is that she will again be taken out of the Rehab Center and we will not be told about it and there we sit again not being able to see her.
We also called a Family Law practitioner to seek legal advise on this. Our thinking is "do we seek partial guardianship?" Note from Sibling Rights of an Adult Guardianship• "If one sibling takes guardianship of the elderly or incapacitated parent or sibling, then other siblings do not have visitation rights, unless specifically stated in the guardianship agreement. The guardian can determine what is best for the elderly family member. This situation can lead to conflicts between family members and should be discussed prior to seeking guardianship." Michael doesn't have to tell us that he is acquiring guardianship....so basically he can do this without our knowledge and we won't have the rights to fight it or appeal it. Stuck between a boulder and a hard place!!
ONE GOOD NOTE: I went to dinner with a bunch of wonderful women last night...our Whispers group. We hadn't met in 4 years! Wow, had it been that long. We are a "bible study" group, more social than study, yet we hold each other in prayer always. Many of us have been on retreats together and still gather with each other in other studies but it was nice to have this Whispers group together again. PLAN: maybe to restart the group again beginning in September twice a month. Re-open a book we read before to reaquaint us with it & each other....things have changed in the last 4 years and our perspectives as they were then have also changed....In the last four years, we've been blessed with 7 grandchildren!!!! So, yes, it's time for a new look with some old friends! I'm very excited to do this. I must close....I have to finish getting this house in order for next week, CANNOT WAIT!!! :)