Mom is having a nice low-key rest day, although I did make her do a little bit of work today. We went for a long walk around the complex. Along our way, we stopped at a gazebo and fed some fish. I had mom stand up to feed them. She was able to pull herself to standing with really no help from me other than to make sure that she didn’t need a boost (she didn’t). She ended up standing for about 15 minutes, with one short break in between. It was really nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine but it did end up getting a little too hot for us to stay out very long.
Since we had a really good, heavy rain yesterday, mom wanted to go check out her flowers. I think I mentioned these flowers awhile back. Actually, it was only about 5 weeks go that mom wanted to do something about these neglected flowers that she could see through the therapy gym window. There were about a dozen (maybe more) pots of pansies that were used for some event. After the event was over, the plants were put outside and apparently forgotten about. My mom loves her garden and seeing those dying plants really made her sad. She pointed them out to her therapists one day and they decided that they would use that as an opportunity to move her therapy outside. She was to water the plants! It was a lot of “sit to stand”, balance, and reaching. She watered them all and said that she hoped they’d make it. It was then that her little project began.
We were all pulling for these flowers. My mom has gone out there many times and has been the only one to care for them. We’ve all been pulling for them to make it. For me, these flowers make me think of my mom, knowing how close we were to losing her. It would have been easier to not push for rehab or meds, or be with her constantly to make sure she didn’t give up. We could have taken a “let’s see what happens” approach, not spent time trying to convince her that she could get through this, and just let her wither away and die. Like what others were doing to these flowers. Instead, we chose to be with her every day, encourage her as she did her rehab, and even (at times in the very beginning) argue with her, even BEG her, to understand that she has a lot of life left to live and to not give up.
Eventually, she chose to keep fighting. She had a team that wanted to nurture her and see her get better. They offered her the “water” she needed. More often than not, we believed in her more than she did. She saw something in those flowers that others didn’t. Potential. She wasn’t giving up on them. She wanted someone to give them what they needed. Water, nurturing, and love. Maybe they would live and get better as she has.
These flowers are THRIVING. There are a couple that are still struggling, but we still see a couple (literally a couple) of green leaves on them. That’s potential. We’re not removing them until we know that there is no hope of them coming back. I’ll keep you posted on those little guys. But in the meantime, I’m glad that mom’s work has been paying off. Both for her and these beautiful flowers.