Las Wednesday, after a broken leg surgery in the hospital, my mom was relocated to a small recovery hospital in town. Its a nice building donated to the village in 1920 by a rich family after the Spanish Flu killed millions of people through the world. The place became the village hospital. This is how it looked like back then.
Although the building looks very nice from the outside, it is not a modern place, but there are many familiar faces between the other patients and the professionals working there and that helps mom feel slightly more comfortable. Me and my brothers are there by turns most of the day as her dementia condition makes thinks slightly harder to manage.
I have a bitter sweet feeling, she is 87 and has lived a wonderful life, but lacking mobility and seeing her in a place out of the family house is sad. This is not a permanent place, she has to start physical rehabilitation to try to walk again with the walker, afterwards we will need to take her back home or find another nursing home for her.
I have the feeling she has given up and will not walk again as little by little she is losing any desire to make the effort to even stand up. The nice thing is you can still see her happy face when you go there to spend some time with her, that face even transforms to a happier expression when I tell her I will bring her olives from the farm in Portugal, as she loves them. Even in this hard situation, I am enjoying the time I can spend with her whenever her mind gives her a break to keep a "regular" conversation.
I plan to travel to Portugal next week to harvest the olives and I will have her smile in my mind every time I collect and pickle them to get ripe and let her taste after a few months.
First sorry to hear about your mom mobility problems hope she will not give up ❤️ second like the history behind this little hospital, the Spanish flu was really terrible on all Europe, third wish you all the best for your Portugal trip.
Thank you 3 times 🙂
Your story is touching. I’m sorry your mom is going through this. But it’s nice that she still smiles when you visit her. The place has a lot of history and its good that she is surrounded by familiar faces
seeing how her face lights up when you talk about the olives is everything, and it might be the little spark she needs for rehab with the walker. olivse really do have superpowers, the kind that bring home a bit closer :) I’m glad you’re savoring those clear moments with her, even if the days feel heavy becuase of the dementia. Wishing you a smooth trip and a good harvest so that first bite months from now carries this love back to her.