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“Happy Thanksgiving,” one of the nurses calls, and we say the same in return. For once, the unit smells good, like sweets and coffee. Coming here is almost always some kind of emotional whiplash, but today, it might be a good kind.
With Miles’s arm wrapped around my back, we make our way to my mother’s room. We find her sitting up in bed, dressed nicely and hair combed. One of the aides must have helped her get ready this morning.
“Hi Mom! Happy Thanksgiving.”
Mom smiles up at me. “Thanksgiving.” She nods, then looks around. She’s a little out of it, but in good spirits, which is a good thing.
“Are you ready to celebrate?” I ask.
Again, she nods, looking out the window at the breeze whirring through the last leaves clinging to the trees.
“Good, because we’ve got some friends coming to celebrate.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh. Friends? Who’s here?”
“You’ll have to come with us to find out.” I move around the side of her bed as she pushes herself up and swings her legs around. “Here, take your walker.”
She glares at me. “I don’t need a walker. I’m not some old lady.”
She does. With the muscle weakness lingering from the stroke, she has to use a walker to get around now, and occasionally a wheelchair. She still hates it though. Many parts of her have faded. Her independence isn’t one of them.
As usual, Miles swoops in to the rescue. “No, but all the cool people are using them these days. It’s a new fashion statement. I wish I had one.” Somehow, he manages to look longingly at her walker. This man.
“Oh. Okay.” Just like that, she does it, and Miles steps back, letting her go by, but then walks right behind her. Not so close that she’ll be annoyed by it, though. “Look at all the leaves,” she says happily as we walk through the halls.
One of her favorite things to do in the fall was take a drive to look at the leaves. Seeing those little facets of her pop out feels good.
Slowly, we make our way off the unit and into one of the small meeting rooms where Katie, Andy, Addie, and Jameson are waiting.
“Hi Eileen,” Katie says walking over to us. “How are you?”
“Good,” she says, looking around, almost bewildered, but still happy. “That’s a lot of food.”
“It sure is. Look good?” Katie asks.
“Delicious,” my mom says, which makes me laugh.
“Come sit down.” Katie pulls out a chair and helps her into it. Then we all sit down.
My mom’s eyes roll over the food. “Is this all for me?” she asks.
“Yep. All for you,” Katie says, but she winks at me, and I know the truth. It’s for me. And Miles and the family that’s blending together here.
Plates are filled amid laughter and giving of thanks.
My heart fills with warmth as I look around the room. For the first Thanksgiving in a long time, I’m not only filled with joy but an abundance of gratitude for the love in my life.
Miles
“Today was a good day,” Amelia says with a soft sigh as she changes into comfy clothes.
Despite her initial concerns, everything went well at the nursing home. I think being surrounded by a lot of energy was actually good for Eileen. She went along with things rather than thinking too much about what was going on or who we all were. Addie and Jameson had her laughing multiple times, even though I don’t think she knew what they were talking about most of the time. The best part was seeing the joy on Amelia’s face. Thankfully, my mother took tons of pictures—as usual—so we’ll have this day to look back on.
After several hours at the nursing home, we all ended up back at my parents’ house for a second round of dessert, some games, and lots of laughter.
“It was,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her from behind and kissing her neck.
She spins around and loops her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry I shut you out when we first got to the nursing home. Bad coping mechanisms die hard.”
