Big Mom & Annie (my step daughter)My mother in law has COPD and has always been a very independent strong willed woman. She has outlived 3 husbands and I child. For 50 + years she has run this farm and for about 20 yrs of the 50 she did it alone. She has only one kidney because she had the other one removed due to cancer. Her child that died drown in a shallow hole being dug for a well. They were all working on the property when 16 mth old Timothy wandered off and fell in the well. She has survived a lot. She is the matrearc of the family. We tease her and say she is the Bank of Big Mom, when ever anyone needs to borrow money they go to her instead of the bank. She is tough as a cob on the exterior but a softie on the inside. She has a very deep rough sounding voice and she is very opinionated. Whatever she says goes......... Did I tell you she is 85? She has really had to give up alot of her independence since coming down with this disease. She has two children, a daughter Delores and a son Bill whom I am married to. We live on 133 acres and share it with Big Mom. Her daughter lives in Florida close to her son & grandson. That leaves the wellbeing of Big Mom to us. She has been under hospice care for over a year now and unless she gets worse they are about to release her. Which hardly ever happens with someone with end stage COPD. Needless to say she pinches a nickel until it screams. Today, we had to go to another Dr.'s appointment....one of those follow up deals so you can renew your medication. She wanted to go with us and go by to pick up her medicine, run by the grocery store and go to Cracker Barrel to eat. She informed us about 5 times that she was not going to pay $60 to have her yard mowed again, especially since she had to provide the gas and the mower. She has about 2 or 3 acres to mow. But Bill has always been able to keep the yards up until he broke his leg. Anyway, we left the Dr's office about 10:45 and headed to the drug store. They have a drive through and we always use it. Well, we got there and gave them a prescription to fill for my husband and to pick up two that Big Mom needed refilled and had already called in. They gave us our medicine and then gave her one prescription. Of course, she is in the back seat with her oxygen on and has this deep rough voice and you can barely hear her. She is telling us and the lady at the window that she called that medicine in yesterday and it should be ready. Then she tries to explain to them that its the thing she has to put medicine in and then puff it. They tell her that hospice will no longer pay for it and she will have to come in and fill out paper work in order to get it through her other insurance. Well, she starts telling them she called it in and can't understand why hospice isn't paying for it. The lady tells us to go around and come in. Well, in order to get this done quickly I tell her I will go in and take all her information and fill out the paper work for her. I know the girls in the drug store pretty well and they all know HER. I tried to explain to her again what was going on and she just can't understand why she has so much trouble getting her medicine. (which we are the ones who always pick it up) Now it is about 11:40 and she says she wants to go by Piggly Wiggly cause they have their Mountain Dew on sale today 4 for $10. Everytime this stuff is on sale no matter where in town, she wants us to go buy her some. Well, my hubby and I go in for her cause those huge cartons of drinks are hard for me to handle with my fibromyalgia and arthritis. She has given me a list of other things she wants and she puts the size, cost, and flavor on it and if you deviate away from her list, you won't hear the end of it. She wanted 4 lbs of cabbage for $1. No one head is 4 lbs and it won't be exactly anyway so I explain this to her and ask her if she wants me to get one head or two.....she only wants a $1 worth. The next is Mr. P's small pizza's, 2 for $1 and they are 6.4 oz size and she wants the Mexican kind. Well, I find the pizza's but the Mexican one;s are only 5 oz. each.....oh no...I stand there going through dozens of pizza to make sure I get the right ones and be sure I check that there is not a Mexican kind that is bigger. I settle on the Mexican ones that are 5 oz. The next is a 3lb tub of butter and its also a $1. So, I have now been to the produce department, the frozen food department and now going to the other end of the store to the dairy department. I find exactly what she wants and head over to my hubby that I hear talking to someone in the drink aisle. Its the Pepsi man.....well, the paper said the drinks were on sale for Wed the 5th not today!! He said, but you go up front and get a paper and I think it has a coupon on it and you can use that for today. Okay, are we talking about a newspaper or a sales paper/flier?? I don't see any sales papers and I am not going to buy a newspaper for a $1 to save her a few dimes. (tough talking, aren't I?) Well, I finally ask the clerk and she says oh we are out of the papers but I will run it through for the sale price without the coupon. Praise the Lord!! These four items took us over 30 minutes to pick up!! Of course we try to tell her the delima with all the food and she insists that is not what her paper said!! OK.... now we are going to Cracker Barrel and she tells us she is going to buy our lunch for helping her today. She usually tells me not to order tea cause its too expensive and tea is cheap....but today I was going to tell her I would pay for it if she said anything. Well, I bravely ordered a glass of tea and sucked it down in a few seconds. Her & my hubby (of course) order water with lemon. We get our drinks and she only has one lemon, oh honey bring me alot of lemons......she then proceeds to make lemonade with the 6 lemons and sweet and low. I bet my tea was cheaper for the restaurant than her water! So.....am I being a -itch here? Sorry, I need to vent...
Well, the nice waitress comes back to take our order (its 12:00 now and very busy). I always order whatever she does so I don't get fussed out or questioned about what I am getting. My darling hubby orders the most expensive thing on the menu and Big Mom is like, how much is that? What did you say? How much? I was ready to crawl under the table. WE get our biscuits and corn bread now .....I want blackberry jelly and alot of it for my biscuits. She complains that her piece of fish is not as big as mine and that my hubby has too many starches on his plate. We eat in peace and then its time to go and of course she wants a to go box for her baked apples and the rest of the biscuits and cornbread and jelly! I have to leave and go to the restroom.....:-) As I am coming out here they come. Its a big deal to carry her oxygen and take her arm as she can barely walk and certainly can't breath. As we get to the door, she asks hubby if he paid the bill, Yes Mom, did you leave a tip, I did Big Mom (me) and did you get my to go box? No, I thought you had it.....so she tells me go back to our table and get it for me. By the time I get to it, they have already cleaned off the table and everything is gone. I am not about to ask where it was and make a scene!! She is soooo mad cause they threw her food away, that was her supper. She wears me out.... We get her home and take the groceries in her back door and then take her back around to the basement so she can ride up on her elevator chair. She is exhausted! Whew.....so am I!! She never thinks that what we do is a big deal or causes us any trouble. Its just that way and it should be done that way. I have had to take stuff back because I paid too much for it. I have to usually go to the Dollar Store to get her graham crackers and then to Walmart for her cereal, Warehouse for her grocery groceries and to Pig Wig for her drinks. But we do it and never complain, except to one another. Don't you just love your Mother in law? My dear Mom has gone to heaven years ago and everyday I hear her in me......all the things I said I would never do!! God rest her soul....I wish she were here to drive me nuts even if it were for just one more day!
That was our day with Big Mom!!
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