I received this letter from my cousin, Marilyn, who lives in
Indiana. She writes about our Aunt Donna who is widowed in her early 80’s with
Alzheimer’s disease, living alone in North
Carolina
Marilyn Kruger's painting is used as the background for the blog
“But at Aunt Donna’s –not so much fun- the
twenty eight year old “handyman” (who incidentally inherits the whole estate
when she dies) who is “supposedly” looking after her was NOT getting the
job done. Aunt Donna’s refrigerator was deplorable. I spent one morning cleaning it out and
throwing out rotten food & petrified remains- cleaning out the
pantry-throwing out moldy syrup-Blue Furry Jam.
Another day we washed her hair … She is not capable of making decisions
about herself on personal hygiene-The House Keeper??? I did 9 loads of laundry
(she had worn clothes and hung them back up in her closet dirty) – Lord knows
when the last time her bed had been changed-I stripped it all-the microwave was
filthy-She had put dirty dishes back in the cupboard-Get the picture???? Makes
me wonder what she does. Anyway I got on the phone to the Lawyer/Estate Manager
and made unhappy noises and he was
going to set up a companion/ladies maid to come in two days a week to start
with to take care of her personal needs. He was also setting up “Meals on
Wheels”, because she is living on Ensure & Debbie cakes…
Her
Student, Becky, (my aunt is an Artist) does
not trust the handyman. She is sure he’s more opportunistic than
compassionate.
It
was so sad, Chuck, to see a woman who only six years ago was still vitally
alive & in charge. And now the
vacant stare, shambling gait, “Lights on but no body Home”. She won’t wear her
teeth and she can’t see well anymore and she has a phobia about getting in a
car. She will not leave the property,
has a foot stopping fit when you try to force the issue. So she hasn’t been to any kind of doctor in
who knows when.”
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