progress

My brother and I have been frustrated and worried because my mom (since we moved her into her assisted living facility in mid-May) hasn't been joining the other residents down in the dining room for meals. Instead, she's been isolating herself in her room and eating there, and missing out therefore on social opportunities that will improve her mental health. Whenever one of us visits, the staff will inevitably remark on the fact that she doesn't come out of her room. Yesterday she told me that she went down for televised church services and that she's been going down for dinner (not sure about the other meals). This makes me SO happy. And I can hear the improvement in her voice.  Further, I had a conversation with her about her house. She tends to worry about maintenance issues constantly (hello!, she deferred it for 11 years--why worry now?), but anyhow--when she said we need to call termite people to spray so the house doesn't "fall down," I gently suggested that this was a waste of her money (like fixing the roof in any permanent way). I told her we need to clear the house out and sell it, so she can bank the money. She actually agrees (although my brother and I notice that she tends to say one thing to one of us and another to the other; nothing new there). But, she seems truly to be on board with this. I told her Spring Break would be the first opportunity to really get in there and go through stuff room by room. She wants to go and sit in the driveway while we do this. I had to give her some hope that this might happen and said we'd see after talking to her doctors, etc. She ended the conversation with "and now Santa Claus, can you buy me some more blouses and a skirt or new pants? I can't wear the same things down there [dining room] every week!" Some things never change. Looking forward to seeing MP2 in July/August!  MP1will be in Texas residence by August 1. Time flies.