JOURNAL ENTRY 35 What I can't articulate part 1

This is another ramble blog entry.  I was in Florida and because of a few observations I am back on my rant about only wanting to live to be 60.  I have improved though.  I wouldn’t mind 70.

To be frank I am saying that I would be satisfied if I only lived to be 70 years old.  I would pray that God keeps me healthy and that I have a meaningful life through that time.   I think about my parents and other elders and I think 70 is quite enough.  I have never been able to fully articulate why.  I doubt if I will in this entry.  I will however ramble through it.

My dad lived to be 83 years old.

With the exception of the Alzheimer’s disease he was reasonably healthy.  At least through his 80^th birthday.  I eventually did all the cooking and had to accompany him everywhere beyond the block.  What disturbed me mostly though was the dementia.  That is an awful thing to watch someone go through.   My adopted godmother goes though it now and her case is worse than Dad’s.  She wanders and gets combative.  She puts clothing in the microwave and hides food.  My aunt is 79 years old and is severely physically limited.  She is confined to a wheelchair. And needs help with the most basic of her needs.

My mother and her sister live together.  It is my aunt’s house.  Home attendants are there all day, starting at 9:00 in the morning.  There are generally two attendants between 9-1.   The other stays till 3.  The other comes back at 4 and stays through 10 when she puts the sisters to bed.  The last comes in at midnight and stays though the morning.

This is expensive of course and my mom and aunt share the cost.  The attendants cost $10 an hour. Each.  No Medicare.  Neither is eligible for Medicaid.  It’s not that either is rich.  It’s just that they fall into the category most almost middle class folks their age do.  They worked hard to build a tiny nest egg they have to burn up after a certain age. 

Now even though they have to pay someone to come in and get them out of bed , bathe and feed them, my mom and aunt can’t even depend on this.  One lady in particular calls out minutes before she is supposed to start.  Lately she has gotten better and calls out the night before.  Usually this is for a Sunday morning meaning the ladies sometimes can’t go to church.  I was there once for the no-show which was  a lucky situation.  The home attendant for Mom showed up but not the one for my aunt.  However, Mom’s help was only supposed to be there for an hour then had to go to another job.  It was a good thing I was there.  I was able to keep them company until a substitute arrived.

There have been folks who no-showed without even calling.

Now this past weekend (9/28) one of the weekend ladies quit on the morning she was supposed to take my mother and aunt to church.