"Oh goddamn! I hid all my money, you bastards!"

Just last week my mother-in-law just fell and couldn't get up so I'm getting a kick, etc.

Churchy LaFemme: Just last week my mother-in-law just fell and couldn't get up so I'm getting a kick, etc.

You kicked her while she was down? Some son-in-law you are.

OBVIOUS

snowybunting: Bah. .gif fail.

Here's the gif I was trying to post (new window)

Makes me think of the time an elderly couple was trying to use the escalator at the store I worked for at the time. They commented on how it was moving too fast and the woman kept trying to put a foot down and pulling it back. I directed them to the elevator nearby.

/Has no frail elder relatives to worry about so far

snowybunting: Bah. .gif fail.

Here's the gif I was trying to post (new window)

I know I'm an asshole for laughing, but that is funny.

I checked: All dead, just like last year.

because the rest of the year you don't need to check on them...

Do you go to see what's wrong when you don't get a card with a check in the mail?

/is that it?

It's also a great time to loot the old bastards' homes.

No, officer, I was just checking on Mrs. Smith. I don't know how that lockpick got there.

slbegay: because the rest of the year you don't need to check on them...

LiteWerk: Do you go to see what's wrong when you don't get a card with a check in the mail?

/is that it?

We just got two new admits to my nursing home in the last two days. I've noticed that new admits tend to spike around major holidays so yeah, this unfortunately is the way it works for some people. If mom or dad sounds fine on the phone and the kids live far away, it's not always apparent that something's wrong until they show up for a family function. That doesn't upset me, because more often than not it seems to be an honest "I didn't know" (and once they know, well, they end up with us, so at least the kids cared enough to see they were placed somewhere they could be looked after).

What does upset me are the kids who drop their parents off with us and then don't bother to keep in any kind of contact, especially when they live close by, or who show up once a year for Thanksgiving or Christmas but it's obvious it's due to social pressure and not an actual desire to see their relative. I know in some cases it's due to bad blood based on legitimate issues and I give those cases a pass; but if your mom is a sweet lady who did right by you and you just can't stomach the fact that she's not oriented anymore? Hey, she used to change your diapers and wipe up your snotty nose - suck it up for an hour, hold her hand, and play along. I know we're not holding a bake sale to raise money for war bonds but so what? If that's the way her brain is able to reminisce about her love of baking, go with it and be happy with her for a little while instead of acting like a selfish twatwaffle.

CSB:

I have a resident who is diagnosed as having severe Alzheimer's and, on the rare occasion she speaks, it's usually either a mumble or one or two words. When she speaks though, it's a lucid response to the surrounding conversation. It's as though she understands everything that's going on but making a thought become words is too much trouble so she tends to not bother most of the time.

Last Christmas I assisted this resident with her meal in the presence of her daughter and son-in-law. They were talking to one another but not to her; meanwhile I was talking to her even though she wasn't responding verbally. After a while the daughter says to me, "I don't know why you're bothering. She doesn't even know you're talking to her, much less what you're saying."

This woman then made the effort to speak. Repeatedly. Every question I asked after that, she answered with a few words. Was she full yet? "No." Had enough turkey and dressing? "Yes." Want to try the ham? "A little." What about the cranberry sauce? "Just a taste." How about some pie? "Yes please." Apple or pumpkin? "Love apples." When she was done I asked if she wanted to visit with her family for a while. "No, tired." As I started to wheel her away she grabbed hold of the table so I'd stop and then she fixed her daughter with the greatest cross between a smirk and a shiat-eating grin I've ever seen in my life before letting go so I could help her to bed.