Now I'm confused

Okay, those of you who know me are probably thinking "that doesn't take much" when you read the title of my posting.

I'd posted previously that my Aunt Jean died who was my Mom's last living sibling and that my Dad fell. Unless there is more than she'll lead me to believe, Mom has put Jean's death behind her and moved on. She knows her sister was ill, suffering, and is in a better place. Dealing with my Dad is a whole different story.

This goes back to why I say I am confused. My Dad knows nothing about how he fell, why he fell, or anything. Aside from busting open his head and getting stitches, he has numerous other wounds. Instead of bruising like most of us do by getting a sore spot that turns various shades of yellow, green, and purple, my Dad gets bruises that are red where the blood just comes up to the surface of the skin. He's got about 5 of those from last weekend and his one finger is really stiff. Jon said that the finger could be broken. Dad is moving around okay although it is slow. He has his mood swings that, while I was there, was being nice to me but being nasty to my Mom pretty much in the same moment.

More than before, I have seen where both my parents seem to be more confused that before. On Friday, my Mom and I were going to run errands after lunch. My Dad was sitting in the living room with the TV on. Before we left, he asked me "Isn't the game supposed to be on at noon?". I had to explain that the game (OSU vs YSU for those who might thing another game is important) was not on until Saturday and that he would not be able to watch it because Armstrong Cable had not secured the Big 10 network.

Then there is my poor Mom. She explained to me that her credit card company charged her a late fee but she could find no record of having gotten a statement from them to pay. I asked her if she called them and she said she wrote a note on the bill. She showed me her statements with check #s and the late fee she was charged was more than the medicine that had been billed to the card! I told her that no one probably saw her note and if she does not see a reversal in charges on her next bill that she needs to call them. I also told her to get a different card because her APR is out of this world. Then we had the gas bill which Mom wrote the check for and everything except that she forgot to remove the promo material from the envelope and realized that she sealed to that instead of closing the envelope. She wanted to try and steam it, etc. I told her just to trim off the part she didn't need and use tape. Next she shows me a bill from one of the hospitals saying that she was 90 days past due for some treatment Dad received there back in March. It showed that they had gotten a payment early in August. I told my Mom to call because either it was an insurance delay or they're confused.

I talked to my Dad to find out if he felt trying to take care of the house was too overwhelming. He said it's fine since my Mom hired someone to cut the back yard. Dad still cuts the front and is at the point where he's going to stop cutting the neighbor's grass and force her kids or grandkids to help her out. I tried to see if there are things that my Dad would like to do and he told me he's having lunch with some retirees soon. I guess he is content with sitting around doing fill-in puzzles.

I asked my Mom if she would like me to work with her to make arrangements for me to set up on-line banking for their accounts and for as many of their bills to come to me electronically so that I could take care of their bills. She feels that she is still capable of taking care of the bills and wants to do this as long as she is capable.

I left Ashland yesterday feeling more confused and with more questions than answers. No one knows why my Dad fell and he simply has to have more tests. I see my Mom having some issues with the bills but wanting no help. My Mom's car has something wrong with it but she cannot get it fixed because either mechanics don't hear the problem or they think she's crazy. The only thing that was very clear to me is that Mom is very offended that I ever considered sending Jonnie away to boarding school. She understands that with no family or friends that in 2 years Jon and I face the situation where we might have to send Jonnie to the Catholic school nearby so that both of us can keep working because neither of us would be able to be home to send him off to school or greet him when he comes home. Mom went to boarding school growing up and she got an education but she got a lot of "extras". I highly doubt that boarding schools beat the students in this day and age.

I'd better wrap this up. I need to get a shower and get ready for church. I have to be there early since I'm ushering this morning.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend and a great week!