Not in Her Nature

Mom doesn't like to sit while she works. All my life, I've watched her stand while cooking, stand while folding clothes, stand while going through the mail. She probably wished she'd been born a man so she could stand in the bathroom!

Since she had her stroke (and went through physical therapy to relearn how to walk and do other everyday tasks), Mom has been instructed that for every hour she stands, she is supposed to sit for an hour with her feet up. That doesn't always go so well. Several times, I have tried to get her to stop working and sit down. We've had shouting matches over it--she seems to think that if I'm working, she should be working.

When I moved home, the first thing I did was clean out the basement so my husband and son and I would have our own "space". That was an ordeal in itself because Mom has hoarding tendencies, on top of the fact that she and Dad haven't been able to take care of the place properly for at least 10 or 15 years. Every room in the house, both upstairs and down in the basement, was full to the gills.

The first morning at breakfast, I asked Mom if she could come downstairs and sit while I sorted through the stuff. Dad said, "No, she can't." He's usually very quiet in the mornings because his head hurts so much, so I was surprised by his comment. I looked at him and saw a glimmer in his eyes like I used to see when he was telling a joke. He continued by saying, "She can't. It's not in her nature to sit down while she works."

How true, Dad. How true.

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