Prayer is Always the Right Answer

 

On Monday when I saw mom, she was in a wheelchair hunched over.  She said, “You’re here.  Did they call you?”

“No mom they did not call me.  I just wanted to spend some time with you.  Did something happen to you that they should call me?  Did you fall?”

“No . . . die.”  Mom thinks about dying 24/7 now.  She thinks she was supposed to already die and for some reason she has not. 

“What does the doctor say?”

“He wants you to be comfortable.  Everyone wants you to be comfortable.”

“I am not comfortable.”  Mom said shaking her head.

‘Oh, Julienne, I’m miserable.”

“I am so sorry, mom.  Your life is in God’s hands, not mine.  I am doing everything I can to make you comfortable.”

“Take my clothes home today.”

“Let’s go to your room and you show me which clothes you want me to take home.”

Mom looked at me with disgust like I had four eyes, “All my clothes!!!!”

“Mom, why would I do that?”

“Because I don’t need them; I’m dying.” 

“Mom, please let me leave them.”

“Julienne, do whatever you want.”

“Mom, I brought my curling iron to curl your hair.  You did not let me do that the other day.  How about if I try curling your hair today?”

“OK, Julienne, let’s go; get it over with.”  I brought mom to her room.  I plugged in the curling iron and started curling mom’s hair.  “How does it look?” mom asked me.

“I just started, but your hair is looking better.”

“Enough, Julienne!”  I was able to put a few more curls in. 

“Julienne, did you bring hairspray?”

“No, mom, I forgot.”

“That’s OK.  Let’s go.”  Mom feels very secure around the nurses’ station and wants to go back as soon as possible.

Mom kept looking at the clock.  The time was 3:42PM.  “Julienne, go home and cook dinner.”

“Mom, I have plenty of time to cook dinner.  I want to sit with you.”

“We are going to eat now and then bed.  And that’s it!”

“Julienne, did you tell anyone that I croaked?”  Mom always used the word ‘croak’ to refer to a person that had died.  When I use that word Ron thinks I am terrible.

“No, mom, I did not tell anyone that you croaked.  You are alive.”

“OK, Julienne, I get it!”

Frustrated that mom is so confused today and that I am not getting through to her. I kept saying under my breath.  God please help me say the right words to mom.  And a light came on.  Pray with mom.  I try to pray with mom on each visit, but for some reason today I needed a reminder from up above.

“Mom, would you like to pray with me?”

“Yes,” she shook her head up and down several times.  I had said the right thing.

I said the ‘Our Father’ mom mumbled the words with me; every now and then I made out a word or two that she was saying.  After we finished mom chimed in with an affirmative, “AMEN.”

I proceeded to say the Mom is the Light prayer. Mom said, “I can’t say this on my own.”

So I say a verse and mom tried very hard to repeat, many times I repeated the same sentence until she could say most of the sentence.  I could see she was trying so hard to remember the words.  When we finished mom said, “OK, go home now.  Make dinner.”

“Mom, if you need me for anything call me.  I’ll come right over.”

“Julienne, I’m not going to call you.”

“How about if I come back for lunch tomorrow and bring you a cheeseburger.”

“OK, Julienne, go home.”

We hugged and kissed, but mom could barely hug me today she was so weak.  Mom said, “Julienne, God knows how much I love you.”

“Mom, I know, too.”