Thursday, December 6, 2007

This has been kind of a tough week for Mom. I had a hard time with her on Tuesday because she tricked me into taking her to the bank. I thought we were going so she could get the cash to pay off her and Dad's cemetery plot. Instead, she went into the credit union and insisted on closing the account my Dad has had for a long time. She was paranoid about an interaction she had over the phone with someone from the credit union. They had asked for her social security number which freaked her out. She was going to be assessed a $500 penalty for closing down her CD but the banker could see that she was being irrational ...so they waived the penalty. I tried to get my brother involved over the phone because I didn't think it was a good idea to close the account...but he ended up talking to Mom and making it worse. I was standing next to her and I could hear Mark swearing a blue streak at her...which upset her even more. That is the last time I will try to get him to help...because it really always make things worse when the two of them talk.

After we got done at the credit union, Mom wanted me to drive her all the way across town to pay off the cemetery plot. I told her I wasn't going to do it...it was a waste of time and gas when she could just give me a check and I could drop it off on the way home. She finally saw that I wasn't going to give into her whim, so we went shopping, tried to have some lunch...but headed home because Mom got sick in the parking lot after lunch.

By the time I got her settled and back home I was completely and utterly exhausted. I have a lot of empathy for her and her situation, but she does nothing to make her life easier. I want her to be in an assisted living facility so she won't feel so lonely all the time. She doesn't want to be around a bunch of strangers. This is where her personality disorder really rears it's head....she doesn't want to be around people...but she is lonely. I am really feeling like there is no good solution to her situation. It makes me so sad that things have to be so hard for her. In the meantime, I need to preserve my own life and not let her consume me with her problems. Not an easy tightrope to walk with an ill and frail 87 year old woman.