Lake Sherwood Village Lit A Fire Under My Mom

Another whirlwind visit to Cajun Country is over. I must say, it was one of the better visits. I only had two goals: get my mom to the neurologist appointment and visit an assisted living center. Well, cher, I did that and so much more.

On my arrival I met up with my freshly "doodied up" mom and Aunt Yvonne. They had just come from the beauty shop, so when I saw how cute they looked I told them they needed to be shown off. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Zoe's Kitchen, all of us ordering Zoe's famous chicken salad with fresh fruit.

Once back at my mom's apartment it took about an hour for cabin fever to strike. And after an entire afternoon and evening watching the mind-numbing Hallmark Channel and Lawrence Welk, I knew I couldn't last much longer, so the next day I asked her if she wanted to go check out Lakes of Sherwood Village. She told me to go ahead, that she had too much excitement yesterday, what with getting her hair did and all. (She doesn't talk like that, I'm just being silly). She told me to go check it out and come back with as much info as possible.

Like an undercover detective I apprehensively entered the main entrance to the retirement center. I think I was secretly hoping to find some misdeed or filth or something negative so I could go back and tell her there is no way she's going to a place like that! But it was surprisingly grand, decorated like a nice hotel. Bingo numbers were being called in the distance so I followed the sounds until I found a beautifully appointed room filled with a rather sophisticated group of elderly souls sitting alertly at tables, engrossed in their game. I observed them until I heard a faint "BINGO!"

Several things caught my attention:
~no unpleasant odors
~no drooling or incoherent patients
~friendly staff
~friendly residents
~clean carpets and furnishings
~beautiful lake views
~Catholic mass and novenas

Lake Sherwood

I went back and reported the findings to my mom, complete with video. She began to cry. She sobbed, actually. I assured her that this was just Plan Z, much later down the road, that she wasn't going to move there today or next week or even next month.

After that, my mom changed. The next day she had several things on her list of errands that I normally do by myself. This time she wanted to do them WITH me. We went to the bank, then we got pedicures together, and finally shopping at Steinmart. Usually my mom can only do one thing per day because of her Parkinson's, so I wasn't surprised when she got halfway into Steinmart and said she'd had enough. But I praised her to the heavens! Mom! Look at all you did today!! I'm so proud of you!!!!

We did even more the next day, including a visit back to the dreaded retirement home, which she was very impressed with, by the way. On my last day there she ran out of gas, yet still felt good. She admitted to me that the idea of moving into an assisted living facility is what got her butt in gear. Ha! My mom still has fight left in her. I didn't realize I was putting her feet to the fire when I instigated the retirement home idea. Whatever it takes. I'm super encouraged seeing my mom not give up and fight to get her life back.

I'm still toying with the idea of moving back home to be near her. I asked God for a sign on what to do about that and seeing her perk up during my visit definitely seemed like a sign.

That's all for now! More posts to come if I can get my own rear in gear. Please know that I am visiting blogs and leaving comments where I can, but my Google Reader overwhelmed me on my return. You all have been busy!

Oh! One more thing: y'all know how fleur de lis is my thing; well, Louisiana's state symbol is the fleur de lis, so it is sold everywhere! I went to the shoe store and look what I had to have! Later gators!