THE LAST CALL

THE LAST CALL

 He was waiting

**

“Hi Mom,” Sharon said as she entered her mother’s room. “I brought you something.”

 Her mother, Lily, just sat and stared out the window.

 Sharon turned to her husband and sadly said, “Mike, I don’t even know if she hears me anymore.”

 Mike walked over to where Lily was seated and crouched down so she could see him, he hoped.

 “Hi Lily.” He placed his hand on hers that was now shrunken and withered with age and sickness.

 For a second, Lily’s eyes showed a spark of life as she said, “Harry, I’ve been waiting for you. Where have you been?”

 Mike turned to his wife, then looked back at his mother-in-law. Rather than correct her, he replied, “I had to work. We were so busy, there was no way the boss would let me off early, but I’m here now.”

 Lily turned her face back to the window and stared.

 Mike stood and walked back to where his wife was standing. “For a minute, I thought she came back to us.” Sharon saw the crestfallen look on his face and knew he felt the same sadness as she did.

 “Oh, Mike!” She wrapped her arms around him and silently cried, then whispered, “Damn it, Mike. If I ever get like this, promise me you’ll give me a bottle of pills and a bottle wine and just let me go quietly. I can’t put our children through this.”

 “Honey, so far, there’s no indication or study results that show dementia is hereditary. Don’t forget, the kind of dementia your mom has began with encephalitis complicated with a brain tumor. That’s a whole different ball game.” He wanted so much to make her smile by adding, “besides you don’t even like wine” but didn’t.

 Sharon took a deep breath. “You’re right. Dementia normally doesn’t happen overnight like my moms did. In fact, it wasn’t even overnight. Her memory was gone in a matter of less than an hour. She was driving to the store and suddenly, and I mean VERY suddenly, she forgot how to drive, forgot where she was, forgot her own home. You were working when the police brought her home. I’ll tell you, Mike, it scared the heck out of me.”

 “Yeah, I remember that day. I left work as soon as you called and your mom didn’t even recognize me.”

 Sharon approached her mother. “Mom, look what I brought you. It’s your favorite cranberry scone. I thought you can enjoy it with tea after lunch.”

 Lily continued to stare out the window.

 As Sharon began to turn and walk back where Mike now sat in the corner, Lily pointed and spoke, “Harry! I told you, I’m not ready yet. You never have any patience.”

 Sharon stopped abruptly in her tracks and looked to the chair where her mother pointed. The chair was empty. Her father, Harry, wasn’t there. In fact, he had passed away six years earlier.

 Just as quickly as she spoke, Lily once again, became quiet and stared out the window.

 Mike quietly said, “I wish they’d find a cure for this. Demtentia is bad enough but combined with a brain trauma, it only worsens everything.”

 “I know. When the doctor did an MRI, he explained that even if they were able to remove the tumor, the damage to the brain would make her little more than a breathing vegetable. And now, here we are, three years later, and she’s almost at that point anyway. She can’t feed herself. Yes, she can walk but prefers to sit. She needs adult diapers because her body won’t tell her when she needs to use the bathroom.”

 Sharon looked lovingly and sadly at her mother. “She really can’t do anything on her own.”

 She looked at her husband, “Mike, that’s why, once Alex was born, I felt I had no choice but to find a home for mom. Oh, God! Mike, I hate calling this place an institution but, in fact, that’s exactly what it is. There was no way I could take care of a newborn and my mom at the same time.” 

 Mike noticed the tears forming in his wife’s eyes. “Oh, Mike, I hope one day, she’ll understand and forgive me.”

 He put his arms around her, held her tightly and offered, “Honey, somewhere in her damaged brain, she does understand and feels that there is no need for forgiveness. Your mom would never want you to feel guilty because you did what you had to do.”

 “Yeah, in my heart, I know you’re right but, oh damn! I just can’t help feeling guilty for not being able to take care of her, myself.”

 Their visit, as it was, came to an end and they made the twenty-minute drive back home where their neighbor happily took care of little Alex.

 Each day, Sharon’s visits were a repeat of the day before – that is until two weeks later.

 She walked into her mother’s room and found Lily standing with her hands on her hips.

 She never acknowledged her daughter, but looked at the empty chair and said, “Okay, you old dog.” Lily smiled. “Harry, my love, I’m ready whenever you are. You’ve been badgering me for weeks now and now, I’m calling you. I’m waiting.”

 Sharon watched her mother and didn’t know what to make of this outburst of activity – until thirty minutes later.

 Lily sat on the edge of the bed, smiled, and said, “Oh, Harry, you came.”

 She lay back, closed her eyes, reached out to Harry, and exhaled her last breath.