Mom was definitely not happy today. I went by in the early afternoon, around 1:30. Mom was sitting in the main room, and it was easy to see she was angry.
"Oh..good. You're here. Now I can finally get out of this place."
'What's going on Mom?'
"They may think I'm a prisoner here, but I am NOT a criminal. They would even let me call. It's my own brother's camp, and they won't let me out of here. It's not like I'm a criminal!."
We went through several cycles of the 'You live here, Mom.' "I know that." conversation. and it was easy to tell she was aware that she didn't have the same freedom she used to. "It's none of their business where I want to go. If I want to go visit my parents, or go to the store, well my parents are buried - I shouldn't have to tell him that."
As usual, many of the things she said were out of context or off, but today it was pretty clear where they were coming from. She felt helpless. And I understood that. I kept reminding her that she was safe, and there were people that cared for her, and that here they could help her with her medicine. She did have a bump on her knee from when she fell the other night.
Robert the activities director came by to ask is she wanted a picture to color. She snapped at him. "No. I'm sick of coloring. Color, color, color...6 hours a day. I'm sick of coloring." She did accept the snacks he offered, and started to smile.
I walked her back to her room so that she could relax for a bit. "Thank you for stopping by. It relaxes me."
'No problem. See you tomorrow, Mom.' I was sorry I missed checking on her yesterday.
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