cellboy

1. Saturday, after my gym, was up in Sac by 3 pm
2. Met my sister, brother in law, nephew, his wife and their new baby. Awe. So Cute!
3. My sister got comp tix to the The 6th Annual Grape Escape, held at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento
4. Impressed! Huge array of vendors, culinary academies all offering their wares for tasting and sipping. Music etc
5. Packed, hot weather = hot people! And of course I spotted a few from the SF Eagle too :)
6. Full with beer, wine and food. We all left around 5.
7. I stopped by to visit Mom. She was not doing well that day, so stayed only an hour for she was very very tired. Would see here Sunday
8. Then off to my sister to crash
9. Up early Sunday, with the baby crying. Then breakfast, then off to visit mom. She was much better, but still a bit out of it. Her memory comes and goes. Night time is the worse. After sundown. In fact the home says it is called Sundowner Syndrome. Common with elderly. And if they have a badder infection, watch out. The chemical imbalance causes even more memory mix up. The staff there are incredible. So nice and loving. A good thing for mom
10. Our visit was nice, but then had to go to meet my sister to pack mom's apt up
11. Packing and dividing what we want. Memories to bring home. My dad's oil paintings, photos and such. Can't believe my mom had boxes of cards. Birthday, Xmas, saved for 40 yrs. Oy!
12. The emotional weight of doing this compounded. We were packing up, mom would never come home. Packing up as if she were already dead.
13 On my way to the car, I stopped to say hi to the Leasing Agent of the community. An older woman, in her 70's. She said that me and my sister were doing the right thing. She said she has never in a long time seen such love and devotion. That we would not be sorry.
14 At that point (a long time coming) I lost it. I began to cry. We hugged. I thanked her, then continued loading up our cars.
15 After loading up. And tossing lots out. And bagging things for Goodwill, I went back to visit my mom. I brought her more small things. Her fathers rosary. More photo albums. Her bell collection.
16. We had a nice visit. She asked that I stay the night, confused as to what day it was (Sundowner beginning). She asked why all of this. She has been so healthy for yrs. I told her I did not know. I do know however, that she is scared.
17 We said our goodbyes, and I drove home. Tearing off and on. I skipped the Eagle, and just went home to unload the car. And packed everything into my already packed closets that I have yet to really organize since I moved here. Things I may use, or never use are here now. Some dishes, silver, photos and gifts I once gave my Mom, and her mom, have come back to me; the circle becoming complete I guess.