top of page
Search

Day 774 in the Nanny June Care Home

  • Writer: Liz Morrison
    Liz Morrison
  • Mar 31, 2019
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 15, 2019


The one with Mother’s Day.


Mother’s Day is a time of real conflict for me. The ghosts of Mother’s Day Past, Present and Future haunt me every year now.


These ghosts don’t just come out on Mother’s Day eve. They are always sort of there - coexisting, converging, mirroring and splitting ... from showing me how I unintentionally replicate my mother’s behaviour when I least expect it, to needing my mother when my own world as a new mother was upside down, to in the end being responsible for nurturing the life of the woman who gave me mine.


When someone dies we inevitably become aware of our own mortality. When we connect with someone who has dementia we become aware of our fragility.


With decades of Mother’s Days now behind us, Nanny June and I have a history of hand drawn cards, cheap bunches of flowers, extravagant bouquets of flowers, abundant boxes of chocolates and innumerable bottles of sherry and so many meals out.


Nanny June actually got her card and chocolates (and posh biscuits) yesterday because I get my time in the spotlight today. As I left I did have to tell the nurse on duty to keep an eye on Nanny June - if she rediscovers the chocolates every five minutes and gets through a box of milk tray, a box of Turkish Delight and a pack of posh biscuits in an afternoon there might be stomach issues a bit later.


And I’m on my own journey now too; currently in the beautiful “receiving cards hand drawn with clumsy writing” phase. But I know they will one day all be teenagers who hate me and then they will be young adults for whom (hopefully) I am such a forgiving constant presence that I fall so far down the list of priorities I only achieve a late card and hastily sent flowers.


But one day it will be me sitting in an uncomfortable chair staring out at the journeys in my mind while my age speckled hand is held in those of my grown children who wish they could connect with me again. And the love we share will forever be timeless, holding us beyond the moment, giving us foundations to stand on and strength to hold each other up.




 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All
Day 3,597 in the Nanny June Care Home

The One with the Not Knowing What To Do (with The Grim Reaper) I cried with Nanny June today. Well… sort of more cried at her. She didn’t...

 
 
 
Day 3,578 in the Nanny June Care Home

The One with The Extra Mother’s Day “I don’t know what to say” said the care home manager. “We can only put it down to the dementia now...

 
 
 

コメント


Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page