Travels with my Mother II: FRA - YVR and a family reunion

I first get up at 5, but that's way too early.  A smoke and another nap.... 6:30 feels better.  I don't want to sleep too much, otherwise I won't be able to sleep in the plane .... but then I have a feeling that Mother won't let me sleep anyway ....

By 7:00 I have prepared Mother's pills for the day.

I make the mistake of turning on the TV.  OH NO, Trump first thing in the morning is TOO MUCH, LOL.

Doesn't he look like a phony Televangelist?
Surprise:  HE IS ONE !
For the DARK SIDE !

And I have an epiphany.  Never mind that the US is now running Concentration Camps for children forcefully separated from their parents, Trump for another 7 years is actually quite likely.  He keeps telling Americans how great HE is and how much better their lives have become.   People actually believe this kind of BS if they hear it often enough.   Vancouver's persistent rating as the WORLD's 3rd most livable city (The Economist's rating is based on polls of residents of the cities) is proof of that.  Just keep telling people that they live in Paradise and soon they feel like Adam & Eve.  

OK, back to reality.  


I am on a schedule here (all the while secretly hoping that Mother hasn't left her room, or much worse, the building.....).




8:00
I'm getting good at this glucose measuring and insulin injecting.  But I just hope the nurses get less abuse from Mother than I do.  Having a job with ungrateful patients must be hell !  Here is a hint for you if you are old and possibly demented:  If someone helps you with your condition, just saying Thank You could make all the difference for those assisting you.












8:30
I remembered something.  About Mother and my Spare-Mother.  Both of them obtained the URL of this blog back in 2013.  Mother looked at the pictures for about a month and then lost interest.  Personally I think she didn't want to pay that monthly internet bill, but her excuse was "My tablet broke". And NO, dementia was not an issue in those days. Mother never belonged to the cerebraly gifted or even just motivated people.
Spare-Mom on the other hand got her son to organize her a laptop and got him to install WiFi in her apartment.  She followed this blog and picked up on little nuances.  She made me feel special.   Miss You Regine !

9:00 
Only 2 hours to Must-Leave time !   The anti-thrombosis syringe has a 1 cm long needle that I'm supposed to stick into my mother's belly fat. 
OH NO !!!!!  Definitely NOT ME !  Let's hope there is a doctor's office at the airport !

There will be NO taking the bus with mother today.  She is whiny enough already.  So I order an airport shuttle.

It's amazing what kind of detours the shuttle HAS to take.  Only buses or bicycles can take the more direct route.  When we finally stop in front of the terminal building it seems like we laid track routes all over the state of Hessia. NO, the driver took the most direct route but the crazy number of intersecting highways prevents a more direct route.










Check-in is reasonably quick and painless.

Time to see Medical Services.   Let's have a professional do that anti-thrombosis injection with the murderous needle.  We fill out the paper work, prepare to pay money, and wait.  Only 15 minutes later someone tells us that the doctor isn't even in the house (an emergency somewhere), that he is not expected back for another 45 minutes.  WTF?  I might as well do it myself.  And IF I happen to faint, I'd be in the perfect spot, wouldn't I?
But they're nice, they give us a room for self-administration, and a nurse, who is not permitted to do the injection without a doctor present, walks me through it.

SUCCESS !

Waiting at the gate.   The LA times can't be read in most European countries (The internet version!). 

30 years ago, humanity invented a new medium, whereby information could flow freely across borders.  Now, they're doing their damnedest to FUCK it UP again ! 

13:08.  

One hour until lift-off, we hope.  Time for another cigarette and some apple juice for Mother.

When I get back, there is someone else sitting in my seat next to mother.  "Next time, please tell people that this seat is taken" I manage to say in a calm tone, but then what is the point of telling things to a person with dementia.  I come to the personal conclusion that the diagnosis of 'EARLY state dementia' for my mother is a misdiagnosis. 

Mother is at the window, I'm at the aisle.  But then I see THREE empty seats in the midsection.   I hop over into the middle seat and I now have a 3-seater to sleep on ;-)

It gets better:  this is the 1st row behind the PREMIUM economy seats, where people pay hundreds of dollars extra for marginally better food and maybe 1 cm of extra leg room.  And PREMIUM economy is PACKED.  So not only did I pay 100s of bucks less than the big spenders, I am the one with the sleeping couch, LOL.  Thank you, Karma !!!

During the 10 hour flight, Mother gets lost repeatedly. Refusing to remember where her seat is or, Lord forbid!, her seat number, she just plops down in the first presently not occupied seat after each washroom visit.

 Half way through the flight I hear THIS from her:   SHIT, I only just heard that we are flying to VANCOUVER.  That can't be right, is it?  

And so on ...

When it comes to navigating Immigration at YVR, I frequently physically have to move Mother to where she is meant to go......  

Her facial expression more and more turns to that pout I know so well:

How dare anyone expect ME to do all those things...

But I manage to maneuver her to the Skytrain, into the SeaBus, and into a taxi to Grandma's place.

The big moment has arrived:  These two haven't seen each other in over 10 years and haven't talked in more than 8 years.  How will it go?

When it's time for me to take a taxi back to my hotel, Mother pipes up: Yes, pick me up at 9:00, I have to go to my job tomorrow.   Looks like she is not demented enough yet to now be mean to her mother.....

The taxi brings me to my hotel room, where I am FINALLY alone !

Time to check my mail: