Caregiving Daughter

If you were to stay overnight at my house, you might be in for a surprise.  Sometimes in the middle of the night, when everything is still, you will hear a creak in the floor, soft footsteps, and maybe a doorknob rattling.  If the moonlight is shining just right through the windows, you may see a pink figure moving slowly from room to room.  And if you listen closely, you may hear a soft, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty…”

No, our house really isn’t haunted and you won’t see us featured on the next episode of Ghost Adventures.  The pink figure is my mom, of course.  She often gets up in the middle of the night to check on things.  Usually she checks to see if there are any cats outside, and she makes sure the doors are all locked.  Last night she was up wandering around like she usually does, but this time her dark side came out.

I knew she was angry before she went to bed.  She saw me let our cat, Licorice, outside.  Licorice likes being outside, and he prefers to use the bathroom outdoors because he doesn’t like to use the litter box.   I’ve had to clean up a few of his “accidents” so anytime he wants out, I let him.  It really bothers Mom if the cats are outside at night.  After I let him out, Mom shook her head and said, “It isn’t fair.”  I explained, as I have many other times, that he wanted to go out and that I would let him when he comes back to the door.  Mom just stood there shaking her head.  Then she said, “I think someone around here is really trying to aggravate me.”  “Really, in what way?” I asked.  In a flat tone she answered, “It’s your daughter, she’s so hateful.  She tries any way and every way to aggravate me.”  “Hmmm, that’s too bad,” I responded.  Having been down this road before, I knew I could not let myself argue with her.  Mom walked out of the room and Licorice came up to the door.  I let him in and hoped that this would soften Mom’s mood.   When she came back in the room, she was happy to see him.  Then she said goodnight and went on to bed.

I stayed down in the living room to watch T.V.  I hoped that mom would go to sleep and forget about being mad and thinking that Angel has been aggravating her.  Licorice went back to the door and asked to go out (he even insisted by meowing, standing up on his hind legs, and pawing at the door).  So, I let him out to go and do whatever he needed to do.  I watched T.V. for awhile, then I turned it off when I got drowsy.  Licorice didn’t come back up to the door, but it was a warm night so I wasn’t worried about him.  I was really tired, so I ended up dosing off on the couch.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard footsteps and I knew Mom was up.  The first thing she did was go to the door to see if any cats were out.  She rattled the doorknob and called, and Licorice came up.  Mom said, “Um hum,” in a huffy way.  I knew she was mad that he was out, so I didn’t move and I pretended I was deep asleep.  I could hear Mom step closer to me.  She was probably about three feet away when she broke the silence by announcing in a low but firm voice, “There sure are some hateful people around here.”  I didn’t move a muscle and neither did Mom.  She waited a few seconds then in a louder voice repeated, “There sure are some hateful people around here.”  Again, I didn’t budge.  There was no way I was going to get into a fight with her in the middle of the night.  She finally walked away as she muttered, “They’re just jealous.  Sons of bitches…”  She puttered around for a few more minutes then she finally went back to her room.

Today, Mom has been fine and has been as nice as can be to all of us.  I wonder if she even remembers.  All I know is I sure hope that when Mom dies she doesn’t decide to haunt us!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS