Remember when a relative visited and got confused over who’s who; or your Mom got angry at you and when she called you were "sarah, donna, susie"… And the guilty party tried to hide behind the other sisters and give Mom the old, "Not me… she did it" in hopes Mom will make a mistake and get the wrong wrong-doer. Well it’s happening here. I’ve been "Donna-Susie" since I arrived, but this morning, Donna is Sarah. Mom wants something she says, "Donna-Susie" (that’s me) or "Sarah" (that’s Donna). Donna and I laugh and just say "yes Mom!" So I’ve now started calling Donna Sarah too. I’m not sure Mom has to call me anything, and I always answer, "I’m here, Mom" and I’m pretty certain that I’m Susie. I once read a story by a New York Madison Avenue business woman who took a leave to take care of her elderly Mom and she said that she was able to sleep next to her Mom’s bed, and care for her, and within a week she was shuffling all around the nursing home in pajamas, robe, and slippers. Mom has not been sleeping at all between midnight and 6am so I’ve been grabbing 3 hours of sleep say between 6am and 9am then I wake up. Mom and I are getting a bit zombie-like from lack of sleep, but I am able to shake off the brain fluff and function. When I wake up I quickly shower and put on clothes, underwear, shorts, tee shirt, socks, slippers before 11:30 when I turn on Mother Angelica’s Rosary and start Mom’s breakfast. By noon, Mom is in her chair eating breakfast and we are watching the Mass on TV. I have my notebook open with pen in hand to catch a bit of wisdom from the homily about the Saint of the day or a point about the Gospel, like when Jesus commissioned the 72 and he wanted no one to carry purse, things, or anything, and the point is that Jesus wants us to know that it is not by our good looks, the clothes we wear, the things and money we have, or what we do that gets the word out. It is the Word itself that moves people. The things we carry are just distractions. Leave everything. Keep focus on the gospel. So today (Friday) after a full night’s sleep (praise God) interrupted only several times by Mom’s need to go to the toilet, (we pause as we walk to the toilet a lot to remember what we are doing in the middle of the night, to catch breath, and sometimes to put her hand on her chest and just stand thee) ("yawn," said Susie) anyhow… on this day, I discovered I was watching Mass still in my night shirt and bear feet. I can’t find my slippers let alone socks. I need a shower and it’s 12:30 in the afternoon! The cat sleeps up against my thigh, Father Anthony Mary prays on the TV, Mom is eating oatmeal with cooked apple that I made for her, and as best as we can do it, all is well. God bless you
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