Excerpt: We Three Sisters

The phone was ringing and with a baby on her hip and a three year old tugging at her pant leg susan picked it up. Hello sue? She heard her sister say on the other end. “Hi Laura, this is me what’s up?” “It’s mom sue, there was another incident last night. Some residents found her outside the building at 2 in the morning. They got her inside but she insisted that the tv area was her apartment and she refused to get off the couch. They called me and I went over and talked her into going to her room but she was in an aweful state. I think we need to make some decisions here. I have to leave for work in a few minutes and I was wondering if you could call barb and let her know what’s going on. I will try to e-mail tonight. We need to be thinking of what to do next.” “Ok , Laura, I’ll call barb and be thinking of some ideas. Talk to you later.” Alice get off mommy now please. I’ll get you a snack.” Susan picked up the little girl and set her in a chair and put the baby in his high chair. Here you go honey. She said as she put a cup and some cherios down on the table. She went to the sink and started doing the morning dishes. She always seemed to think beter when she was working on something. “what can we do?””she thought to herself. It had only been 3 months since their mother went to the Bardwell. She had been showing signs of dementia for a few years now but that was normal for the three girls. Gale had been living next to Laura since Laura got married. Things were fine and no one even thought about dementia or anything like that. The girls had lived with their mothers depression their whole life. A few years ago Gale had begun accusing Laura’s husband Jeff of stealing things. They would look and find things all over her house. Then she started accusing Laura’s girls of hiding things on purpose so she would think she was crazy. Susan had pretty much ignored all of it because Laura was right there and she was 2 hours away. A few months earlier Gale had talked with her couuncerlor and they had decided that she needed to move. Laura and the counselor had found an apartment building for elderly and handicapped that took medicare and Gale had approved of the room so susan had made the two hour troip to help move her mother into the Bardwell. It was difficu;t for gale to give up so much of her stuff but the girls were able to talk her into living with less. They told her that everything was still in her old house and it would stay there until she wanted it.
Now this. They l had already been warned another incident and she would have to move. Susan thought while she washed. “ There was no other place except a nursing home.” “Mom would never go for that. Maybe they could find something inbetween the bardwell and a nursing home. “naptime girls” she said as she wiped up their little faces. Once the girls were in bed, she called her husband at work. “Hi Joe can you talk for a minute?” “Sure honey, what’s up? Ids everything Ok?” “Oh, Laura just called, mom had another incident last night. She was found at 2am outside the building in her pj’s. the Bardwell already told us that one more incident and she would have to move. Laura wants us to help her decide what to do next. “It sound s like it’s the nursing home for your mom.” “ jWhy do you have to do that>” she said curtly. “do what”mike said. “Oh I don’t know why I even try.” She slammed down the phone and started to cry.