Therapy

Physical therapy -- "tennis"
Photo by Sister L

With a full audience last night -- me, Sister L and Julie -- Mom was in good form. She was in bed, looking almost asleep, but held a great conversation with L about the day's physical therapy session,  how the PT and OT women "really pushed me. It's good for me." It had lasted two hours, L said, with the OT woman working on what seemed to be household tasks, and the PT woman working on walking, weight bearing, arm strength, and getting around. It's all paying off in more strength, but, alas, not a lot more agility, as, with a walker, she still freezes up -- can't take that next step without a little urging.

It made me wonder about all the napping. She'd have been asleep if we weren't there, but she really didn't show much fatigue at all for quite a while. Even when we finally had to go, she seemed only a little drowsy, not gratefully embracing sleep the way she does. I think it's boredom that makes her sleep. And for her, the cure for boredom is people, and the surest cure is us, her kids. It always involves another person, and, in a way, it's a lot to ask.

But it's true, most of us have somebody around a lot of the time. Some of us with somebody around crave to be alone for part of every day. I wonder if she ever felt this. Maybe when she was a young mother. We have a trove of letters she wrote to her parents -- deep reflections, observations of the kids, what was going on. Reading them, you get the sense she was relishing the time she had -- alone -- to write those letters.

OT
Sister L again