Snooky's Last Goodbye
Mrs. King wasn't expected to live more than a few days but she surprised the doctors by responding to the antibiotics prescribed for her systemic infection. Her mental condition has deteriorated over the past week. Mrs. King was released from the hospital today and was sent back to the nursing home. My wife and I decided that this might be the last chance we had to bring her cat Snooky to her to say goodbye so we packed up Snooky in a carrier and off we went to the nursing home.
For those of you who have never been in a typical nursing home, let me tell you that most of them are depressing places where people go to slowly die. We were familiar with this home because my dad stayed there for a couple of months until his death. It had not improved since that time. People sat in wheel chairs muttering to themselves in the hallways.
We went into Mrs. King's room where she lay in a semi-sleep state. She had that translucent complexion that people have when their time on Earth is short. We managed to rouse her enough to have her see Snooky. She was very confused and disoriented. She did not remember my wife Karen from an earlier visit and kept asking what her name was. She did not remember Snooky at first but Snooky obviously remembered her. She came out of the carrier and rubbed against Mrs. King, who was obviously struggling to remember who Snooky was. We showed Mrs. King a photo collage with all of our furkids on it and told her that we would take very good care of Snooky. We kept reassuring her that Snooky was in a good home and would have the best possible care. It was very sad to see Mrs. King trying so hard to comprehend what we were saying to her.
We did not want to tire Mrs. King further so we excused ourselves. When we said goodbye to her, Mrs. King looked at her beloved Snooky and said, "Bye-bye Snooky." I could tell from the sudden change on her face that Mrs. King realized for a moment who Snooky was and how much she meant to her in the past. On some level Mrs. King knew she was telling Snooky goodbye for the last time.
4 Comments:
God bless you both for making an old woman's last days on this earth better ones. I can think of nothing more comforting than having an old friend like Snooky by her side no matter how briefly. And you are right..on some level she knew and snooky knew.
It's very sad and wrong indeed the state of affairs many of our elderly must live out their last days in. There but for the grace of God go you or I. There are some cultures that revere the old..keep them very well until their time comes. I wonder what & how this has happened in North America to make it not so here. We baby boomers are soon becoming the biggest elderly group ever..and if we don't change things then we we will suffer the same fate.
God bless..God speed Mrs. King.
Hi
Thanks for your visit and comment. It was a lovely thing you did taking Mrs Kings cat to see her. I love your photos. They make the cats seem strokable even on screen. I shall visit again to read more of your back posts.
Take care
Ruth
These posts just really get me. I think you are such a special person for doing this, I really do. Not many would recognize how important this is.
hello there sir! It touched my heart upon reading your post. Godbless you and your family. Merry Christmas too. ^_*
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