I took my mom to the cardiologist yesterday. Her blood pressure is ridiculously high. She blames it on genetics.
Her genetic predisposition to eat poorly and not exercise.
After her appointment, I met my cousin at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
Hey, if my blood pressure goes sky high, I’m going to blame it on genetics. I was having lunch with my cousin!
My mother can justify her way out of anything. When the doctor told her to eat better and take walks, she told him she couldn’t walk because her neighbor, Lois, was always watching out the window and would want to go for a walk with her. “And Lois can’t walk at all!” Then threw in a “I don’t like chicken!”
I think the cardiologist is a saint because he not only didn’t slap her silly(er), he didn’t grab her by the throat and strangle her dead (like I was doing in my own head)
My mother also justified everything, and believed that unless a doctor told her to stop smoking or she would die in five minutes, it meant that the doctor thought it was okay for her to smoke. And then a doctor told her that the next cigarette she smoked would blow blood vessels and kill her immediately, and she was shocked! Shocked, I tell you! (We got rid of all the smokes before she came home from the hospital.)
Are you sure you’re not my long lost aunt or mother or somebody? Every single time you post about your mom I get visions of my grandma. Your mom doesn’t sound as wack-a-doodle as my grandma. Yet.
My mom was a difficult woman, but I gotta tell ya, whenever you talk about your mother, I’m grateful for mine.
I love that she’s concerned that Lois (who can’t walk AT ALL) might want to walk with her.
How does that work?
Hi,
I have read your blog for so long that I can’t remember when I started. You are so eloquent and funny and sad and witty. I don’t want to lurk without finally saying hello.
I have gone through hell with my daughter who is grown, but suffering from mental illness. I just know that your son will get things straightened out in his head eventually. He has wonderful parents who love him and a great brother.
I know about the pain and I am thinking about you. How brilliant you are to use your talent with the written word to work through all of this.
Oh, my mother drove me up a freakin’ tree all of my life. Your blog today made me laugh. I so often wanted to snap my mother’s neck.
Onward into the fog…..
Hi,
I’m a lurker too. And a mental health counselor who works a lot with addiction, and the mother of teenage boys. One who is going off to college in the fall. So, I relate to your blog.
I also have a mother with similar issues. The snapping of the neck…now THAT’s funny. Currently, my brother, husband and I are having the discussion of “what are we going to do with mom?” Her dependent personality and worsening judgment are not a good combination. But the writing is on the wall that she’s going to need some care, sooner rather than later. I honestly do not know if I have the werewithall to handle her dependent personality.(she will totally LOVE being taken care of, but won’t do a damn thing to take care of herself, as per usual.) So I enjoy reading that others are struggling as well. Carry on!