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Saturday 13 April 2013

She's Losing It!!! My Mother That Is.

Yep, that's right, I'm picking on my 83 year old mother and telling the world that i think she may just be losing it.  Her mind, that is.  I told her its OK, she's allowed to forget a few things but she insist that she is losing it and so i feel no problem in announcing it.  Besides, I'm still smarting from being told off this morning for putting a very "unladylike" joke in my post last night (Noelle's Funny).  I said the S__T word and told a "toilet joke".  Goodness me, I'm almost 50!  And, it was a 70 year old that gave it to me.




You can tell by my defensiveness how things roll between us.  Still attached to my Mum's apron strings.  I thought they got cut off for a while but somewhere along the line they got reattached and i seem to need her approval now more than ever. 

I digress, which i am wont to do.  Maybe its catching!.

She was telling me about how her week was going and at first she said nothing much has happened but then half an hour later she is still telling me and i am laughing myself silly.  It certainly has been a mixed up week for her which is quite unusual.  She's as sharp as they come and very independent. 

Mum first thought she was in trouble when her son-in-law who happens to be the Pastor of her church asked her if she would play and sing at Church on Sunday.  That's not so unusual as she has been doing it all her life but it was a very specific song he wanted.  One that she wrote about 35 years ago to go with a series of sermons that were taught at that time.  He had memories of Mum singing this particular chorus (when he was a teenager making google eyes at my sister) and given that he is revisiting this series of sermons and starting this coming Sunday, he was hoping for a repeat performance.  Back then she was quite a prolific writer of choruses for praise and worship and i have too many memories to mention of her sitting at the old upright piano for hours with a pencil poked behind her ear, stopping every now and then to write a few notes, going over it again and again until it was just right.  I certainly knew them well by the time they were finished.   He handed her a song book with the words and music in it and Mum was completely blank.  She remembers the sermons but not the music, and she wrote them.  A day later and a bit of tinkering on the piano and she still wasn't remembering and Sunday was fast approaching. So she got out her old archived manuscripts (all handwritten in pencil) and there it/they were.  It was as clear as mud.  Once she could see her own words in her writing, in the right key and chords, it all made sense and she was off.  Someone had changed all the music when it was published. 

She called her best friend on Saturday (same age-group - my Sunday School teacher) to tell her that the old choruses were coming alive and asked her why she didn't call last night as she had news to tell.  Poor Aunty Laurel (yes i know, habits die hard) had to remind her that last night was Friday.  She has called Mum every Sunday night for about 20+ years.  Doh!  By now Mum is really starting to worry about her sanity.

I told her that these things happen as you get older.  She was only playing solitaire on her laptop at 3 in the morning.   I know she has trouble sleeping through the night and so to make herself tired again and to stop herself from thinking about everything she loses a few hours playing cards electronically.   Funny, i seem to remember having an online chat with Shelby in Ohio last night at 2.30am for that exact same reason.  Gosh Mum has alot to answer for.  Between not being able to sleep and the bunion that's warped my feet and we wont go into the "extra large" genes she passed along.  That's "genes" but the "jeans" are equally as large.

Anyway, she then proceeds to tell me another thing that happened in this week of nothing happening.  Mum plays piano at the residential home in the next town.  She drives herself over there and entertains the "oldies" she calls them, many of which are younger than her.  She has a song book of all the golden oldies and they sing along to Mum's soprano voice and I'm sure the upright piano is fairly rocking along to Moon River, Daisy, As Time goes By,  Blowing In The Wind, Don't Fence Me In  etc.



The other day she was given another song book that was old and tattered and hand written.  It was very hard to read but she said she would look through it for new material.  Some of them she knew and eventually she came across one she particularly loved - My Blue Heaven but got quite cross because whoever had written the book had only included the verses.  Apparently its the chorus that everyone loves and she wanted to play it.


 So what did she do, give up.  Not my Mum.   She spent an entire afternoon and evening tinkering until she could remember the whole thing and wrote it all out on a manuscript, in pencil, going back and forth like she use to until it was right.  Very pleased with herself but tired she went to bed with the song running through her head.  Up again at 5.30 am (as all real country women do) and went over to the piano to refresh her memory.  She took one look at the book she was given and turned the page.  What do you think was on the next page.  The rest of the song.  I cant imagine how she felt at the time but she was laughing at herself when she told me.  All that effort. 


An old upright - there are about 5 in the family  - Mine is from Chicago 1920's
Oh Well, i told her that all those musical neurons in her brain got a workout and that she probably would live a few more years.    I firmly believe that playing piano in your later years is an excellent brain exercise.  Both hands playing different keys whilst eye's focused on written notes and interpreting music.  I only wish it was as easy for me.  Oh, by the way.  She taught herself to play and write music.  Clever girl, my Mum.

Mum at the recent Flower Show in Melbourne - we made her use a chair and although she fought it, i think in the end she was comfortable. 

Love you Mum XX

Thank You for Visiting Living In The Land of Oz. 

6 comments:

  1. I am DROOLING about the flower show...was that the Melbourne International flower show? We went once when we were wide eyed newbie horticulturalists and it was an amazing eye opener to possibilities :). Love the story and love your mum. We had to force my mum into a wheelchair at airports (helped her get through quicker as well ;) ) and after a while she insisted on it! ;). You are close to 50 as well? Welcome to the terrified club! Turning the big 5.0. in August this year and am hoping that the day after I don't wake up with a full beard and a lower voice than I already have :(. This post smacks of retaliation for that telling off you got ;). I made Steve post his Kevin Bloody Wilson song for Christmas on his own blog as I knew that mum wouldn't be all that happy with it. I forgot...she subscribed to Steve's blog as well... ;). I just hope that I am that active when I am your mum's age. I have Glad next door as my icon. She is 90, she still rides around on her ride on lawnmower mowing her 5 acre property, she walks every single day and she rocks a twinset and pearls when she goes out every Saturday night with her adult daughter on the raz...maybe 50 (and a beard) won't be so bad? ;)

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    1. As you can see i did get this comment. Thanks for staying on board. I love connecting with people. Oh Lord. I am well familiar with my waxing pot. Its another one of those genes that got passed along. Darn Them. I used to pay a fortune for waxing, then got my own and havent looked back. Hate the mirror in my car, it shows every single hair - but reminds me to attend to them. Id love to meet your neighbour. All that knowledge and accumulated fun to listen to.

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  2. For some reason your blog won't let me post as "The Road To Serendipity"...I am getting the idea that blogger is making trouble for wordpress blogs ;). Lucky I have a spare one (blogger) up my sleeve isn't it?!!! I never use it but it does come in handy for commenting and getting past bloggers INFURIATING comments system...sigh...(lucky "I" still have a few brain cells spare...must be because I haven't hit 50 quite yet! ;) )

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  3. And here was me thinking it was 60 Fran. ;)
    I think the neurons pick up and walk out when you have kids. Seriously! I used to think I was pretty clever back in the day and either age and kids have brought me disillusionment or it's fried my brain. I'm blaming the latter. Mind you I feel much better about my advanced brain fried age of 34 when I remember my dear husband is 45. Not so bad then. ;)
    Your mum sounds like a legend Lynda and yes, naughty you for your terrible language. Might be best if you never introduce her and I. *blush* I'd be sure to drop a clanger in her presence and you'd be in trouble for consorting with "people like me". ;)
    As for the hair, I have vivid memories of my Nanna dry shaving in a little hand held mirror on our way to church in Walleroobie where my grandfather was preaching. Mum saw her in the rear view mirror and very nearly ran off the road! My brother and I didn't dare look at each other.

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  4. Your Mum sounds so much like mine, right down to the computer games in the wee hours! Mine is 90 and her older sister is 93, the longest living of 10 children. They have a younger sister and one brother still living, too. I live with my Mum, not because she needs me, but because she is helping me. I must be the oldest boomerang kid ever! I had an apt in the same building as Mum and my Aunty. First we had a bedbug scare and the whole place was sprayed twice, weeks apart. So I moved most of my stuff out and put it in storage (where it languishes sadly), then piled the rest in the centre of the rooms and started sleeping and eating up at Mum's. Was ready to move back down in January of 2012 when a massive flood happened (from an upper floor). I stayed at Mum's while the very lengthy process of repairs began. They finished in Sept or Oct, as I recall. But in May I lost my job and the situation became permanent. In the meantime, I've begun staying with my Aunty 8 days out of 14 as she has a mild form of dementia and needs help with meals plus plain company. So it's down for 8, up for 6 . . .

    Anyway, I loved this post. I'm older than all you lot (nearly 67) but I use my own aging scale, which you are free to borrow and pass around: you are Young from 0 to 50; middle-aged from 51 to 100; old from 101 to 150 and after that you're ancient! So I'm barely into my middle age and quite happy to keep it that way LOL. Besides, it's all in your head, isn't it?

    Nice to see my friends here; I found your site and Narf7's from rabid's blog. And they there's their friend Kym, too. And me around the world waiting for spring in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada . . .

    I'll be back. I have a lot to say to your post on the role of women in the world. but later . . . ~ Linne

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    1. Thanks for coming on board Linne. Its great to link up with our sister up North. Your lifestyle up there is so different from us but at the end of the day we are women. Your living arrangement sounds cool. Never a dull moment. I bet they love having you around. I've found that Mum has really loosened up in her old age and is become way more fun. She's more accepting and just rolls with things. Thanks for the scale. Im still young, Yippey!!!

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