Basin and Towel

Wednesday was kind of a crazy-cranky day for Mom.

I put too much butter on her toast.
Her soup was not hot enough.
She wouldn't tell me/couldn't tell when she needed a change.
The aide didn't come when Mom wanted.
And so on.

I thought maybe it was just my sleep deprivation that was coloring my perspective, but when Nate came home late morning, he noticed it too. We tried to be scarcer than usual, and stay out of Mom's way. By 2:00, she was muttering about exacting her revenge on the aide. (I wish I could remember the name Mom pulled out here. It wasn't even close to Cassandra or even Carissa. I'll have to ask Nate if he remembers.)

Gwen: What do you mean?

Mom: I'm filling my britches!

Well, Cassandra didn't come right then, so the revenge was exacted on me and then Mom had a nap. When the lovely Cassandra did appear late afternoon, Mom was pretty crusty with her. She refused a shower so late in the day and asked for a bed bath. When Cassandra agreed, Mom exclaimed, "You're not going to make me take a shower?" Cassandra assured Mom that she gets to choose what she wants and went about her business. I left them to it.

After she finished, Cassandra wheeled Mom out and left. And Mom was a different person. She told me, "Well, Carissa sure turned me around. Do you know what she did? She washed my feet! She actually put my feet in a bucket of water and washed them! You don't know how good a bucket of water feels instead of just a washcloth. I looked at her and said, 'You are like Jesus.'"

Yes.