My Mother now lives in an assisted living residence. She has her own room, with a private bath, and I think more closet space than I have in my house!
Mom never lived in a dorm, as she walked to college from her parents' home. She hasn't lived in an apartment since she was a small child and lived in a triple-decker-walk-up-cold-water-flat. My point is that she hasn't had to deal with wall-sharing neighbors in a long, long time.
At Mom's residence, guests are asked to sign in and out, so that they'll know who is in the building. Just like college! Last week when I went to visit her, I noticed a lot of visitors had signed in to visit this one particular person, MrS. I'm thinking, maybe it's MrS's 80th birthday and he's going to have a very large birthday party today!
In the hall, I had to excuse myself to get through a cluster of well dressed people, to get to Mom's room. They were standing outside of an empty room, surveying it, as if doing an inspection, I thought.
As I was about to leave to go home, Mom complained about her neighbor.
"Last night they kept me awake, they were having a big party, drinking and singing all night."
This is not a college dorm, people do not have drinking and singing parties all night long. Do they? What can she be talking about?
The apartment next door is empty, there is a trash can full of paper cups, a platter of left over sandwiches and cookies next to it, and a lonely oxygen tank against the wall.
MrS was not having a birthday party, he was having a deathday party. His loving family was with him all night, singing, telling stories, and holding vigil. Keeping him, holding him, until he had to leave.
What kind of songs were they singing?
What kind of songs will I sing to my Mother? What kinds of songs will my sons sing for me?
2 comments:
Sing girl scout songs for me.
What a super sweet story. I have to wonder what song I want for me, too. Sandy
Post a Comment