Today was the day I was dreading. I was to visit Mum in Barty House and it would be the first time I would have seen her since three weeks ago when I left her there looking bewildered. I had told her that she would be there for 4 weeks. Subsequently, it became clear after much discussion with family, that leaving Mum on her own especially at night at her flat was no longer an option.
After collecting some more clothes from the flat, with great trepidation Sue and I went to Barty House. After an initial chat at reception I donned the mask, gloves and apron and waited for Mum in the lounge. She arrived and it immediately struck me how frail she looked. She immediately announced her dizziness and with a few tears she said she would rather be “gone”. Not a good start but once we settled and I spoke about the children and how everyone is doing there was little mention of the dizziness.
I then explained that she needs to be safe and as a result it has been decided that she would be staying at Barty as her permanent home. To my surprise she had no objection, fully understood and said it was the right thing to do. She did not want to face another frightening night on her own. We carried on chatting for about half an hour and during that time I repeated the decision to ensure she knew what was happening and remembered. She certainly had and she seemed almost as releived as me that the decision had been made.
I returned to the car where Sue had been waiting patiently for me and the fact that the decision had been made came as a great relief to both of us. We went for a quiet walk and chat on Bearsted Green.
Due to the Covid lockdown, the home are being very strict and unfortunately we will not be able to visit Mum on her 95th birthday on the 27th. However, Viv and Steve will be staying at Mum’s flat from this Sunday till Wed and will help to clear the flat. Viv will visit Mum on Wed. Hopefully in due course visits will go back to normal, but that is a way off yet.