Thursday 1 July 2010

Useful

I'm spending a few days with my mother; my brothers and I have been taking turns doing this since our father died earlier this year. Of course, the rota is approximate, since life gets in the way (not as much as death I suppose), but that's fine. We even managed to arrange the funeral without fighting. The point is not to be useful (fixing windows, throwing away unnecessary correspondence, suggesting that maybe that bill should be paid, doing it myself if the reaction is too hostile) as it is just to be there and reassure her that we don't plan to put her in the poorhouse ("Mum I don't think they have poorhouses any more").

Anyway we're not here to be useful we're here to be interesting. Aren't we?

5 comments:

Kevin Musgrove said...

It's useful enough to be there. All the rest is administration.

Best wishes.

nursemyra said...

What a nice thing to do for your mother....

Gyppo Byard said...

What Kevin said - being there is more important than anything else you do while you are.

xerxes said...

Kevin, Gyppo, you are certainly right but convincing my mother that administration exists is a challenge. Eg bank accounts: "Look mum it's like deciding between soup or sandwich at lunch, it doesn't matter what you decide but you must eat lunch, you must decide." Then later "but I didn't decide, I only discussed it." "Yes you did mum, now stick with it."

True, the decisions now don't matter, but later they will and it'll be better then if she has become accustomed to making them.

Nurse, thank you. I don't yet need to book her place at the gimcrack but maybe later. Or maybe for me.

problemchildbride said...

Your mother is a lucky woman to have sons like you.