Possibly impending family crisis (or not)

[urbpan]

My dad just rang in his weekly call to say he spent the weekend by my mother's side. He normally spends a good amount of time there anyway, at the nursing home where she lives. But this weekend she began coughing (aspirating food) a lot. He made it sound like they were having a much harder time than usual getting her to eat. He spent the weekend just holding her hand and patting her head and talking softly to her. He said "I think this is the week she is going to die."

I'm not worried about her. She's already mostly left us. I just hope they give her the right meds to make the transition gentle and painless.

I'm worried about my dad. He's known this has been coming for probably a decade, but that doesn't mean this is going to be easy for him. I asked him what he needs, he said he doesn't need anything right now but he'll call me when he does. He apologized for bringing me down, which was both sweet and infuriating. I wish I could just take the week off and spend it with him. I do have bereavement leave I can take when the time comes, but I feel like he needs the support now.

What I'd really like to do is go to some quiet place in the woods and think about my mother and write some words about what she means to me.

Comments

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. When my step-father was dying, it wasn't him I was worried for so much as my mother. Hope you get to take that walk in the woods... (hugs)