Mothers, fathers, grandparents are considered a burden to society. We are caught too deeply in the daily routine and instead of appreciating and supporting the most important people in our life, we abandon them. Sometimes it is too late for regrets, they are worthless…
I feel so down today. Well, I have this good friend that has her mother hospitalized with an elderly health care centre, in a beautiful location in the woods.
Lucy invited me on a trip into the mountains and she told me that she would like to visit her mother, which idea I liked a lot. So at dawn, yesterday I packed a few things in a very small suitcase and waited for Lucy to pick me up.
It was a beautiful spring day with life thriving everywhere around us. The wild cherry trees are magnificent opening their flowers in the cool air of the forest.
Lucy stopped the car at a large parking lot and said:
– Here we are, dear, now I am inviting you on a walk to that medical facility, just two kilometers on a grassy path to the heart of the forest.
You can’t imagine how I enjoyed walking by foot, I even took my shoes off. Bare-footed on the silky grass, such complete hapiness!
– Lucy, do you mind keeping quiet, till we get to the centre, I want to meditate on something.
– You must be cooking something up, aren’t you?, she replied.
I smiled and kept quiet. On the previous day, Lucy and I had a very tense discussion about Alzheimer’s disease and she had contradicted me when I said “Love solves it all”…
In front of us there was a huge wooden gate with a bell and a video camera above it. It opened automatically and a beautiful building, with a lot of windows was right there in front of us.
A corpulent lady saw us to Lucy’s mother’s room. The woman was sitting in an arm chair lost in thoughts, she didn’t make a move or a gesture. It looked like she wasn’t aware of our presence.
Lucy took out a few things and stuffed them in the drawers of the bed, then turning toward her mother said: “I am sorry mom, Peter doesn’t want you home, I love you but my marriage to Peter is everything”.
I noticed tears in the old woman’s eyes and her mouth opened a little in a bitter smile keeping quiet.
But Lucy told me her mother has Alzheimer’s, I thought. She lied to me.Why?
I cannot motivate my gesture but I approached the woman, gave her a big hug and whispered: “I love you!”. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears and in a weak voice she said: “Thank you!”.
I felt so sad and I asked Lucy: – What’s the story here?
– This is none of your business, you don’t get it? Old people are useless, I would never ever give up on my husband for her, he cannot stand her”, she said nervously.
– Why?
– Because she cannot be of any help, mmm let us close the subject, said Lucy
I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought Lucy was a great person, but she treated her mother like she were nothing! Her mom was just an abandoned woman at an elderly health care centre for people with Alzheimer’s and she was healthy.
A fortnight later it was on the news: ”An abandoned mother 82 years old gave up on life at the X elderly centre care…”. Lucy’s mother.