Fantastic Voyage - David Bowie

A few weeks ago my mother received a call from her aunt concerning my aunt. This left her with a lot on her mind and tears in her eyes. When I asked what the problem was she sadly told me that she was being forced to put her sister in a nursing home.

I little background history before I continue. My aunt has cerebral palsy and when my grandparents died my mother was more than willing to take care of her, she has all her life, but her aunt claimed custody over her as she wanted to exploit my aunt by using the money she receives from social security for her own personal gains. Apparently she fixed things in her home to make it more "wheelchair friendly" and what not so it looked as though she was using the money for the benefit of my aunt when in reality she wasn't. I believe my mother fought an internal battle with herself about her sister since her parents died. My father is not as understanding of my aunt's disability as he should be (especially since my mother told him the first day he showed interest in her that there would come a time when she would have to take care of her sister and he said he was fine with it) and mother is practically disabled herself and knows that she can't properly take care of her. So, she accepted her aunt's request to take care of my aunt.

My mother's aunt claims she can no longer take care of my aunt and wants her to live with us. My mother tried to explain to her that there's no one here that's able to take care of her, but her aunt persists. She's going on vacation and can't be responsible for her anymore. It's at this point that my mother realizes that her sister must be put into a nursing home and it breaks her heart. Not only because of the entire situation, but we've been planning to move to Las Vegas next year and she doesn't want to leave her sister here alone. The past couple of weeks have not been the easiest on her and it breaks my heart to see her so upset.

My aunt arrived yesterday. I wouldn't say I'm particularly close to her, but I'm in no way as cold-hearted as my mother's aunt who tried to give me a sob story that she wished she didn't have to do this. All I could think about was the vacation she would be going on in a few days and the money she took from my aunt for her personal benefit. It made me so angry and I found myself wondering how people like her live with themselves.

And now I sit here looking at my aunt, who's watching tv and coloring, and I just feel sad. I work at not one, but two nursing homes. The environment there is certainly not as warm as one would hope and I'm just imagining her sitting by herself feeling completely alone. I'm sure it's not any different to what she's used to, but it...I don't know. It just feels wrong since I know that she could have been spared this fate for a few more years if my mother could take care of her or if my mother's aunt wasn't so selfish and cruel. The only good thing about the home she's going into is that I work there during the night and have a half hour break almost every night. I've already made the decision to visit her on these breaks as I'm sure they'll be small rays of sunshine in her mostly dull days.

For now, I think I'll go in there to have lunch and watch a movie with her. She'll like that.