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Dear Friends,
This message is for those of you who have elderly parents or relatives who are still able to live on their own.
Until recently, my Mom lived on her own. We always checked her refrigerator and kitchen cabinets to make sure she had plenty of food. Her house looked neat and she plainly told us she did not need help keeping her house clean. It had a funky smell, but Mom uses a kind of perfume and powder that I detest and I thought that was it.
Then something terrible happened and we almost lost Mom twice within three weeks. She survived but she won’t be able to live by herself anymore. We have had to clean and sort things out so my niece can move in with Mom and we discovered an absolute horror of junk, dirt, bags of old papers and bills and much, much more hidden behind closed doors and under furniture.
We respected Mom’s privacy and we all made a horrible mistake. My mother is a germaphobe and she was living with dirt, not dust, but dirt. We've had to wear masks and gloves to clean her house. We’ve thrown out about thirty big bags of trash, a bunch of dead mice and have scrubbed and scrubbed over and over again to get things clean.
If you have an elderly parent or loved one, please be nosy! Don’t let your respect for him or her keep you from looking in closets, drawers and under beds. Look for mouse droppings, things stuffed down in bags or boxes gathering dust and dirt and hidden things that are musty and dirty. Look behind those closed doors. If your loved one gets mad at you, just accept it and keep on being nosy.
This situation with Mom has horrified me and broken my heart, but if I can spare one of you the shock we've been through with this, it's worth sharing.
Sincerely,
Jan
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I still dream and I still hope, therefore I can take what comes today.
Jan is in Lothlorien reading 'neath a mallorn tree.
My avatar and signature were created for my use only and may not be copied or used by anyone else.
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