Voting with Mom

We voted today.

When I got to her house, Mom was not really sure she wanted to go anywhere. This is typical Mom....make plans, then decide that maybe she is too tired, too achy, too... she just does not like to go anywhere any more. Part of it is because she does hurt (Pott's Disease, or TB of the spine does that, ya know?). But the other part of it is that SHE KNOWS she does not remember things, and she can hide it when she stays home. Her uncertainty is more evident now than it was a year ago.

So I grabbed her coat, told her to get her shoes on, talking constantly. Told her this would be fun. Told her she has been talking about this for the past two weeks, and would be mad at herself (and ME) if she did not go. She dutifully put her shoes on and sat down, looking so very pathetic, saying... "oh, I just don't feel very good... " So the nurse took over, asking if nauseated, etc, all the while helping her to put her coat on. Found her purse, put her wallet in, handed it to her, and helped her up, still talking. Next thing she knew, she was in the car.

The different sections of our side of the city vote in the same building, but Mom and I live (though not very far apart) in two different sections. My line was a long one, hers was not, and I thought I had it all figured out--NOT!

I had Mom safely seated, and went to stand in my line. By the time we got half way to the area to sign in, MOM's line began to grow, and grow, and grow. But God is GOOD!

I saw my nephew, and asked him to go check on Mom. A short time later, others in our line said, "go check on your Mom, and we will save your place in line!" (OOOhh, THANK YOU!!)

Well, my wonderful nephew had taken Mom and gotten in line 4 with her, BEFORE it had begun to grow! We had Mom signed in and done voting in short order, and I returned almost exactly to the same spot that I had been in before I went to check on her!! It took a few more minutes before my line again even began to move.

Sometime later I had realized that Mom was not sitting nicely in the chair I had found for her, and called out to one of the poll place workers (my Aunt, Mom's baby sister)...

"Aunt Alice! Do you know where Mom went???"

"Yes. She is standing out in the hall."

"STANDING? Standing good or standing almost falling...?"

"Well, standing sort of weakly, leaning on the wall. I'll go check on her in just a few minutes."

Not long after, she returns and tells me that Mom is ok; she's sitting now, out in the hall.

Ok, so I can vote, knowing Mom is not going to be in a lot of pain, and not going to fall. So I take my time, vote, put the ballot into the machine, and go out in the hall....

NO MOM! I go a little ways up and down both crowded halls. NO MOM!!

I run back into the voting room, find my Aunt, and she says... "All the way down at the end of the hall, near the doors. She's sitting out there, so she is fine..."

And she was. Ensconced nicely near the door, watching everyone coming and going, talking to my nephew and his friends, looking very comfortable!

She was thrilled with the little "I voted" sticker that I had for her. Tickled pink, in fact.

"WHERE did you get THIS?" then turning to my nephew to show him, and ask HIM if he'd gotten one, too... yup. Doug is an adult returning to school for an Associate Degree. He pulled his own sticker out of his pocket, saying that HE gets double credit for the assignment if he brought proof back that he had voted. So his sticker isn't for wearing, I guess!

I went to get the car and together, we helped Mom get into the car, thanking Doug for being there at the right time, and he grinned. And we took off for the grocery store. ...

I thought this would be simple. I have an account at the bank that is 'housed' there, and stopped at the TYME machine, withdrew money from another account elsewhere, and deposited some of it into this bank's savings account. Mom is in awe of this 'new store'.. though this bank has had a branch here for years, Mom does not remember it. Nor does she remember the florist section (also there since the store opened).

She had a list, but she has always gone up and down every aisle 'just in case... you never know...'. So that is exactly what we did. She used the part of the cart nearest to her, I used the other end. We looked at shrimp that was frozen, but not cooked. She was just staring at it, then said... "That doesn't even LOOK good! I never saw them like that before'.... uncooked. Greenish gray, not pinkish. She marveled at how much the store had changed, found things she hadn't seen 'in years', like 8 o'clock coffee beans. (They used to sell these only one place! We used this kind all the time back then!" I asked her if she wanted some... nope, just looking... and we continued that way for nearly two hours. She picked out two Golden Delicious, two Red Delicious and three Navel oranges, plus a bag of grapes. Tomatoes and other veggies got the same inspection. Oh, and that doesn't even take into consideration the numbers of things that she labored over, and then decided against getting it, like ice cream...did I mention Mom is 82?

Finally, we check out. I put my groceries on the counter first, and then went to get my credit/debit card out of my pocket to pay. Only ONE SMALL PROBLEM! I didn't have it! A short discussion later, an employee handed me the bank's number and hours to call to report that the TYME machine had apparently eaten my card because I must have forgotten to take it out after getting my money!! So Mom ends up paying for my groceries, then her groceries...and we go home to her house. I am exhausted, she is chipper. I make supper and I cannot help but wonder.... WHOSE MEMORY IS WORSE???

The best part? I unpacked her groceries at home and put them away. Suddenly I realized... "You cannot take this woman ANYWHERE!"

Somehow, when my back was turned and she patiently waited for me to find my debit card and take care of my purchases, this woman managed to sneak two BUN candy bars onto the counter!

And her response when I teased her about this? "I just love them! And I haven't seen them for YEARS!"

God bless!