I don’t know how Stephen took care of his mother all
alone. And I’m still shocked at how little we paid attention
to it. I suppose we all just thought that they were private
and didn’t want to be bothered.
I was unable to write yesterday due to how busy I was
taking care of Mira. I had to even ask Stephen to help
me. No wonder why he’s such a strong young man.
He has been having to really lift his mother.
She can barely stand now. She walks okay as long as
she has someone to lean on.
She wants a bath every day. It is the one thing that
allows her to feel a little better. Her everything aches.
I think of Stephen at the age of 13, having to help
his mother bathe.
It breaks my heart. And I’m so glad that he’s in his
own room for now. At least until Robert is back with
supplies. I wonder how Robert will feel sharing a room
with a teen boy. I think he will be fine with it knowing
what Stephen has been handling, like a man, on his
own.
Yesterday as I helped her slip into the tub, she
touched my face, and with tears streaming down,
she thanked me profusely for relieving her son
of the burden of caring for her.
I felt I would completely fall apart. But it’s amazing
how strong you can be when you know someone
else needs you to be.
I have a feeling there will be many more missed
days of writing. And when I do write I don’t know
how much else I’ll have to write about with caring
for Mira being my most important responsibility now.
Trina tries to be helpful. But she’s afraid being around
Mira as sickly as she looks is going to effect the girls.
As if they haven’t seen much more terrifying things.
For now, Mira is still here. And so am I.
Sam