We were supposed to be flying to California this weekend...alas, we are not. We had purchased the tickets (well, sort of purchased them; airmiles you know) several months ago and a pile of "must not forget to take to California" stuff has been collecting on the guestroom bed ever since. (No need to worry about that, when you live in the sticks like we do, your city-slicker friends are hardly beating down your door for a visit!) The reason being my elderly, 92 year old, mother is not quite well. She's had some sort of stomach complaint and loss of appetite for a few weeks and did she tell her doctor?...no.....She figured he already knew! When asked to explain, it went something like this: "He takes blood tests all the time, wouldn't that show up in the tests?" Um, I don't think so! So we are going from there: with me as accompaniment, one doctor appointment down; later this morning she'll be chugging barium and having a CT scan, followed by another appointment next week or earlier, depending. So...that trip to California just doesn't quite fit in for now. After a few tearful phone conversations we got it all worked out: if all goes well, we'll go the first part of December. If all goes not so well, Ms. California (awesome daughter) will come here.
On a side note, have you ever noticed how some people talk to elderly people? It's this sort of sing-songy linguistic rhythm, as if they're talking to a child. Underlying it all is a patronizing tone, totally disrespectful and ultimately, it keeps an invisible wall between them (which the speaker probably wants). Some of my nieces talk to my mother (their grandmother) that way--drives me crazy. I'm proud to say my daughter never, ever talks to older adults like that. She does this thing where she addresses them like they're real people! And guess which granddaughter is the odds-on favorite?! Duh!
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