In the nick of time

I stopped by Mom's apartment yesterday on my way home from having breakfast with a friend at the Alki Cafe. It was a wonderful way to start the morning...eating biscuits and gravy, seeing a friend, listening to each others stories.

I called Mom from the car and of course she wanted me to come for lunch...but I had other items on my agenda today. I did decide to stop by to drop off some homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

Just as I walked in the door and rounded the corner into her sleeping alcove, I discovered Mom trying to lift her heavy brass headboard. How she was able to get it up so high, I have no idea. She yelled for me to come help her. I immediately dropped the cookies and ran to grab the headboard. I told Mom to get out of the way and go sit down.

Once I got her clear of the area, I adjusted the headboard, which she was trying to flip to the other side and reposition on the wall. This was the part where Mom sat on the sofa motioning with her hands to indicate that I needed to move the headboard a little this way or that...she loves being the furniture director. I moved her dresser slightly and put back her bed side table.

What amazes me is the woman who is so weak she can barely get out of her chair suddenly is able to move furniture. Granted, she could have seriously hurt herself if I hadn't walked in just in the nick of time to grab the brass headboard.

So..is she faking when she says she is so weak just to get me to come over and spend time with her? Does she have some powerful life force still left inside that comes to life every now and then? I simply don't know..and both questions can probably be answered with one simple word...YES!

I talked with her about the dangers of what she had been doing with the furniture. She agreed that she couldn't do that kind of thing anymore. But there was a trace of a smile and a bit of a laugh in her eyes when she agreed to the sensible limits I was putting on her behavior. She gets a kick out of pushing her own personal envelope. She is just lucky that my Dad and I have been there over the years to save her from herself.