З життя
Я більше не можу: Як влаштувати догляд за літньою матір’ю?
Сьогодні я більше не можу. Куди подіти мою похилу матір?
Не знаю, скільки ще витримаю. Спочатку здавалося — переживу. Що це лише важкий період, що любов та терпіння допоможуть. Але зараз я на межі. Емоційно, фізично, морально. Хтось може засуджувати мене за ці слова. А хтось зрозуміє, бо сам через це пройшов. Хочу розповісти свою історію — не для виправдання, просто щоб виговоритися.
Мене звати Соломія, я — друга дитина в родині. Старший брат на три роки старший за мене. Мати народила нас у зрілому віці: його — у сорок два, мене — у сорок п’ять. Батьки довго не мали дітей, і коли нарешті це сталось, мати сприймала нас як справжнє диво. Ми були для неї сенсом життя. І попри велику різницю у віці з іншими матерями, вона старанно давала нам усе — турботу, тепло, освіту.
Коли мені було сімнадцять, помер батько. Для нас із братом це був жахливий удар, але для матері — кінець світу. Вона ледве оговтувалася, і я, як могла, підтримувала її. Брат поїхав навчатися, потім перебрався до Канади — працювати, будувати кар’єру, заводити родину. Ми лишилися вдвох. Я — і мама.
З тих пір минуло багато років. Зараз мамі сімдесят вісім. І я все ще поруч. Тільки тепер це вже не просто мати. Це людина, яка потребує постійного догляду. Майже цілодобового. І я не справляюся.
Мати забуває елементарне. Залишає працюючий праску, не вимикає плиту, може покласти чайник у холодильник, а молоко — у шафу. Я вже тисячу разів казала, щоб не допомагала — я сама все зроблю. Але вона продовжує — з добрих намірів, зі звички, з бажання бути корисною. Тільки це більше заважає, ніж допомагає. А мені соромно сказати: «Мам, не роби цього», — бо я бачу, як їй боляче від усвідомлення власної безпорадності.
Нещодавно сталося найстрашніше. Мати вийшла на вулицю і не повернулася. Вона забула, куди йде. Забула, де живе. Ми шукали її понад три години. Я обдзвонила всіх знайомих, оббігла округу, ледь не збожеволіла. Знайшли випадково — подруга побачила її на іншому кінці міста й зателефонувала мені. Мати була розгублена, змерзла, перелякана. А я — вичавлена, зламана, спустошена.
І це — не виняток. Це стало буденністю. Постійний стрес. Постійний страх, що щось трапиться. Постійна відповідальність. Я не можу розслабитися ані на хвилину. Прокидаюся серед ночі від кожного шуму. Не їжджу нікуди. Я не живу — я існую. Я не донька — я сидЯ вже не пам’ятаю, коли востаннє почувала себе просто людиною, а не доглядальницею.
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Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
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