Oi vey!
A Shirley Update!
Well, she woke up this morning calling for Armand. I came in and got her up, well before he caretaker arrived. Covered her legs with a throw and placed her in the living room. She asked where Armand was and why he wasn’t helping her up. I told her he was gone, for about 5 to 10 years now. (Shirley in quotes, me without.)
- “Gone? Where did he go?”
- He’s dead Shirley.
- “How?”
- His body just gave out and he died.
- “Really?”
- Yes, he died in Santa Fe in the hospice there.
- “Does Richie know?”
- Yes, he knew but he’s gone too.
- “No he’s not, I just talked to him the other day.”
- Sorry Shirley, but he’s been gone now for about 4 years. He had a heart attack.
- “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
- We did Shirley and that’s about when you had your first stroke.
- “I had a stroke?”
- You had 4 strokes, maybe more.
- “Really? 4 strokes? Why don’t I remember?”
- Strokes affect your memory.
- “I have a good memory. I should remember all this.”
- I guess I should go for the trifecta here. Anita’s dead too.
- “Good, I never liked her. You wouldn’t have liked her either.”
- Marylou now lives less than 30 minutes from here.
- “I know, she lived here for a few days and you got rid of her.”
- That you remember, but you don’t remember anything about Armand and Richie passing?
- “Nobody told me that they died.”
- Shit, I tell you everything, good or bad.
- “Really?”
- and on and on and on
What a way to start the day. She’s still sure we never told her any of this, but she mentioned that we probably did it so as not to cause her worry. I could go on and it could sound humorous to some, but she was truly confused and it wasn’t a fun chat.
Nina, I’m not sure how you would have handled the questions or how you had handled them in the past, but I just told the truth.
She’s planning on joining me for dinner tuesday evening at Rialto. I may just stay home if she insists on coming.
She’s reading now and seems to enjoy the activity. I like talking to her, but it still bothers me that she’s so confused.