Mother’s Last Days :: Personal Narrative Profile Essays

Mother’s Last Days Welcome to the Glenbrook Retirement Home. May I ask who you are visiting? Oh yes, you must be Mrs. Mitchell’s son. She talks about you so often. Right this way. Ignore the other patients peeking from behind their doors. Walk past them, down the long hallway. You are the outsider here. Don’t forget that; you are now the crazy one, not them. In this place, sanity is like a dream that you struggle to remember throughout the day. Scott, so nice to see you again. It’s been a while since your last visit. She asks about you every day. She’s just inside, go on in. How is she today doctor? Ask anyway, even though the answer never changes. Touch and go, really, no way to tell what will set her off. Honestly, she’s had better days. You don’t have to stay long. Just let her know you’re here and then you can be on your way. Open the door; that is the first step. Open it slowly, don’t frighten her. She is like a child, and you the careful parent. Try not to cringe as you walk into the small room that your mother now calls home. Try not to smell the musty odor that pervades everything. Try not to wonder what sort of purgatory you have confined her to. Who the hell do you think you are? Get out of my room! Doctor, doctor! Caress her hand as she whimpers. Stroke her wispy white hair and wonder why no one bothers to brush it anymore. It’s me, mom. It’s me. Deep breaths. Just start talking, that’s the only way to get through this visit. Tell her one more time who you are. Tell her one more time about her grandchildren, her grandchildren who are too afraid of her screaming fits to come with you anymore. Tell her about your job and your new house. Tell her all of these things so she can forget them again. Know that is all that she can do. I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before. Away†¦get away from me. Tell her your name, tell her that you love her, that you’re here for her. Show her pictures of the kids, tell her about Lisa’s school play and Taylor’s soccer game. She was the star. He scored the winning goal. Stay for as long as you can this time, before saying, I really have to go now mother.