AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once I’m finished, I head into the living room to see my mom slumped over on the sofa. Fear races over me, and I rush to her side to quickly realize she’s fast asleep.
That’s when what’s going on really hits me. I’ve seen people fall asleep on couches, passed out drunk with their mouths open, and I even saw a guy almost OD at a bar one time, but there’s just something different about an elderly person whose mentally not okay who falls asleep. It’s the way they slump forward instead of resting their head back.
As a little girl, I saw it at a retirement home when we went to bring them Valentine’s Day cards one year. I remember thinking how odd it was then, and now, when I see my mom passed out in the same way, my chest starts to ache.
This just proves even more that she’s really not doing so well.
I sit down next to her and place my hand on her back. “Hey, Mom. Why don’t we get you into bed?”
She startles and looks up at me with a blank stare. “Hannah?” she says with absolute surprise in her voice. “You’re home?”
The excitement radiating off of her breaks my heart. It’s like she doesn’t remember spending the entire day with me.
“Yeah, Mom, I’m home. Let’s get you into bed.” I help her stand up.
“Okay.” She complies, and I lead her to her bedroom.
We brush her teeth, and I help her get changed. Surprisingly, she allows me to do so with no hesitation. Our roles in life are suddenly flipped, and for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m the parent and she’s the child.
It’s both comforting and heartbreaking.
Comforting that she’s allowing me to take care of her.
Heartbreaking that at her age, she’s going through this. I always thought this happened to people in their eighties or nineties. Not someone as young as her.
Once I get her dressed and ready for bed, I tuck her in with a glass of water on her nightstand and her purse on the floor beside her bed, like she had every night of my childhood.
Afterward, I head out to the living room and notice that it’s only eight thirty at night. Seeing that she was that tired this early breaks my heart that much more.
My phone rings, and it’s like the saving grace to the heartbreak road I was heading down. I pick it up and feel better when I see it’s Ellie and Leah calling me on a three-way FaceTime.
“Hey!” I say, trying not to come off as down as I feel. Even though the last thirty minutes have been hard, spending the day with her was amazing, and I want to remember that—at least for as long as I can.
“Hey, girl! You’d better be coming out with us tonight!” they say in unison, making me laugh. Some things never change, especially with these two.
“It will be our first time at Pony Up together!” Leah says.
I’m not going to lie. The thought puts a huge smile on my face. We wanted to go there so bad in high school. Well, I actually played there a lot right before we took off for Nashville, but that was different.
“Why the hell not?” I say, looking into my screen.
They both hoot and holler, and then Ellie says, “I’m picking you up in thirty. See you then!”
We all blow kisses into the camera and hang up.
I sigh as I look around my room that hasn’t changed a bit, but everything around me has.
I think a night out with my girls will do me some good now that I know my mom is asleep and will be until the morning.
Just like she promised, Ellie pulls up to my house a half hour later and races around the car, then runs to my front door. I open it up wide as I wait for her attack.
“My girl is finally home!” she screams as she rushes to me with her arms wide open for a hug.
I laugh as I hug her. “I missed you too.”
Of course, I’ve kept in touch with both Leah and Ellie, and they even flew out to Nashville to see me a few times but their last visit was a while ago.
She steps back and looks at me. “I hate the reason why you’re home, but I’m so glad you are. How is she doing?”
