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Really must say "damn"
Nov. 17th, 2018 03:08 pmMy brother and I have been uneasy about my mom's driving.
Yesterday she was driving -- at her insistence -- 500 miles from her house to my brother's house. She had a tire blowout, scraped the wall, and got safely to a gas station.
She was utterly confused at the gas station. She couldn't find her money, her driver's license, or her credit card. A kindly passer-by (thank Heaven for him!) took her under his wing, checked her into a hotel for a night and paid for it, because Mom couldn't find her money. The next day he called my brother, then drove my Mom in his own car to meet my brother half-way between them.
Matt has to have the "don't drive on interstates" conversation with her, which he's tried multiple times with no success. This time he's ready to bring out the big guns and say "you're risking other people's lives, you are risking the inheritances of your children*, you are risking your own retirement."
He's also buying Mom a flip-phone because she can no longer manage her iPhone.
I need to get Mom to do cognitive testing, because she sounds very much like she's cognitively in the same place Dad was last fall. This isn't surprising, because she's 87 and has just lost her life partner. It is, however, shocking, as it must be.
* Note: We don't give a damn about the inheritances and have told Mom multiple times that she should use the money on herself. However, because she does give a damn, it's leverage, and we will damn well use it.
Yesterday she was driving -- at her insistence -- 500 miles from her house to my brother's house. She had a tire blowout, scraped the wall, and got safely to a gas station.
She was utterly confused at the gas station. She couldn't find her money, her driver's license, or her credit card. A kindly passer-by (thank Heaven for him!) took her under his wing, checked her into a hotel for a night and paid for it, because Mom couldn't find her money. The next day he called my brother, then drove my Mom in his own car to meet my brother half-way between them.
Matt has to have the "don't drive on interstates" conversation with her, which he's tried multiple times with no success. This time he's ready to bring out the big guns and say "you're risking other people's lives, you are risking the inheritances of your children*, you are risking your own retirement."
He's also buying Mom a flip-phone because she can no longer manage her iPhone.
I need to get Mom to do cognitive testing, because she sounds very much like she's cognitively in the same place Dad was last fall. This isn't surprising, because she's 87 and has just lost her life partner. It is, however, shocking, as it must be.
* Note: We don't give a damn about the inheritances and have told Mom multiple times that she should use the money on herself. However, because she does give a damn, it's leverage, and we will damn well use it.
