Readers Who Write

The time had come for my mother to make the move.

I strongly felt that she no longer should be living by herself. Advanced age and health issues did come strongly into play. And now I felt that the time for her to leave her own home and move to some sort of care facility or a place for the elderly would be in order.

This would be a radical change for her and she probably would not immediately agree with my decision for that change. I knew she would have great anxieties about leaving her cozy home and her familiar surroundings by moving into a strange place. I did realize that she would have a most difficult time walking away from her comfortable living room, her convenient bedroom and her sunny sitting room with the tall widows giving her an unobstructed view of the distant verdant hills.

Was she going to lose her independence almost completely? Or would she realize that it would be much better to get out and make the necessary move after all? Would she think ‘if I fall again, will someone find me in time?’ I have the feeling that many of those somber thoughts may have entered her thought process as she at last acknowledged that she really had no choice and the move could be the best solution for everyone involved.

During one of my last visits to her place, I stood in her small kitchen with everything still in its place. I saw the water kettle and an old coffee can painted with blue and white squares with some paint missing here and there. After moving from the kitchen, I entered her bedroom where an old wall cabinet took up much of the space. I opened some of the doors and found old books with smelly pages and letters written years ago when I was in college, all neatly stacked in a corner. I also found several recipe booklets neatly tied with rubber bands.

Deep sadness filled my heart. Her life too had happy and sad times experienced, and now I felt that the move from here must also be one of her saddest. She now has to say farewell to her home of so many years. The home she had lived with her devoted husband during lean and prosperous times.

She now has to take leave of her freedom and independent living. She was always so independent and confident, able to handle whatever came her way. But now, she has to give much of that up when at her new place.

I wonder, will she ever get used to a life of order and rules set by others?

I know she will need time to adjust and accept it all. Will it go well? Will she be able to deal with all the adjustments that will be required from her?

Time will tell, but will she survive?

Send us your copy So you say you want to write? Go for it. Send us 500 or so words of scintillating copy. Make it funny. Make it poignant. Make it count. Make it any way you want. Just don’t cuss. Don’t be boring. And have a point. If we like it, we’ll run it. Email submissions to community@rv-times.com. Put “Readers Who Write” in the subject line, and tell us the city where you live.

So you say you want to write?

Go for it.

Send us 500 or so words of scintillating copy. Make it funny. Make it poignant. Make it count. Make it any way you want.

Just don’t cuss. Don’t be boring. And have a point.

If we like it, we’ll run it.

Email submissions to community@rv-times.com. Put “Readers Who Write” in the subject line, and tell us the city where you live.