Garden Therapy

Yesterday, we moved my grandma into a nursing home.

She had been in assisted living.  She knew this move was going to happen.  She had seen the room she was moving to.  The dementia made her forget.

I sat their holding her hands, sharing her tears, trying to make her understand.  Trying to make things okay for her.  Trying to make things okay for my own mother as she tried to take care of her mother. 

We found things to smile about.  The bathtub she loves.  Discussions on spunkiness.  A visiting dog.  The picture of her with her five daughters.  She seemed to calm down and relax a little.

I went back today.  I saw her in clean clothes, sitting in the main room, still confused, but not agitated.  We talked for a bit and then she sent me away. 

It's been a tough couple of days.  Wishing I could do more, but knowing I'm doing all I can.  Knowing she is confused, but knowing she is safe and being well cared for.

So I came home and planted twenty dollars worth of flowers into the ground.  I know it's too early.  There's still a good chance of a final frost.  But the time spent playing in the dirt and calming my own mind is well worth the twenty dollars I'll have to respend to replant those flowers.