Day #04 > TUESDAY 27th OCTOBER
The day starts well, & Mum has granola for breakfast whilst I hoovered & gave Abel a going over. Again.
We went for walk, Mum wobbly on way back so we took it easy. She ate about 15 minutes before walk, so I was surprised. She stops for 10 seconds & then is ok, but is breathing heavier than usual & slightly out of breath. Dehydrated? Why?
Went out out – whoop! – had lunch at Jersey Mike’s subway-style joint; Mum had a fair size Tuna sandwich which she ate all of & said she enjoyed it, then was in & out of the car in various shops – although I noticed she initially struggled with the seatbelt (as in not knowing what it was & how it worked) but gradually got into it.
Bob fell over whilst stepping up a kerb. Splat – flat on his back. I & a couple of passers-by righted him. He seemed more embarrassed than injured.
We shopped – Bob remembered to stop for a bottle of wine for Mum, but forgot my chia seeds; so after asking if I could wait till tomorrow he went back to shops for me as I insisted it was important. Sigh. He then roared back at high speed, presumably needing a drink . . .
Once home, I got all the clothes out of car that Mum had put in yesterday when she loaded it up when convinced we were moving house. I popped them on Mum’s bed & she was sorting them out into her walk-in wardrobe & chest of drawers & left her to it, disappearing upstairs to call Swansons for some tablets for Lia whilst I was here in the US of Medication, as Bob had the den TV on at a gazillion decibels. I must’ve been gone 40 minutes.
When I’d finished I came downstairs & Mum appeared from outside, with Abel on a lead, & was very agitated & demanded wine. This must’ve been around 2.00pm. She saw the new shiny white wine bottle on the counter & tried to open it, but Bob said it was warm & there was some chilled in the fridge, which he gave to her. Mum poured it. I heard all this from the den – as I was now pricing up Swanson ingredients on the website – but I came into the kitchen & took Mum’s wine glass & told her she needed water right now. She said she didn’t & looked harshly at me. I threw her wine into the sink & said no wine right now, it will make you poorly. She said: ‘You cruel bastard.’ I repeated no wine right now, as you need water. She got a half-pint glass out of the cupboard & tried to fill it at the fridge water dispenser, but spilt water all over the floor & complained that the damn thing didn’t work properly. Her glass was upside down.
She finally worked out the dispenser & took her glass of water outside & drank it alone on the deck.
She came back inside a few minutes later, but it was obvious she was ‘on one’! I initially tried to pacify her, but then called her out when she was starting to get too wild with her accusations & then simply talked more than her so she started quieten down, but then she turned her attention to Bob . . .
She wanted to know why he treated her so badly & told him she wasn’t happy at all. It was harrowing to hear, but she was far from defenceless. She gave him what for & I believe he was in no confusion that he needed to treat her better.
Phew. I wasn’t expecting that!
Mum went off for a rest, & I spoke with Bob. I established that he usually gave her the Olanzapine medication in the evening & the anti-depressants in the morning, topping them up with Xanax if required. He confirmed Mum was drinking what she usually did. Gulp. He didn’t seem too concerned at all, & proceeded to tell me all of his woes; of course, every conversation always comes back to Bob very quickly & I believe was simply delighted that someone else was taking some pressure off him at home . . .
The rest of the day went as ‘normal’ – with Bob telling Mum exactly what to do & her trying to follow his instructions but getting confused & needing help, which Bob wouldn’t physically follow up – he’d only give her the same directions but in a sterner tone, or simply take over himself. We ate a plain dinner – Bob had whisky & Mum had wine, followed by a sherry digestif.
It wasn’t a nice finish to the day, but I was gaining quite an insight into life at Deweyland . . .
