Taking Things Too Seriously....

My husband thinks I take his mother too much to heart; of course, she is playing with my mind, he believes, what has she to do? The way my husband sees it people in old age homes are left with nothing to do but aggravate the staff; the matriarch is merely here instead of a home and I am her personal staff of one. Nothing drives a person crazy, young or old, than getting everything they want; it is a legitimate curse the Chinese culture has known about for years. Old people don't suddenly age; they feel the differences in their bodies and get scared about the changes in their brains--growing old is not for the weak of heart. The matriarch has nothing left to do; since her separation in her 89th year (can you believe I just wrote that down?), my mother-in-law's world has shrunk; the children, my husband and I are her world--old neighbours have died or lost contact, family has died and people have gotten sick and occupied with their own interests. And, the matriarch does nothing but eat and stay alive. At least with us, she gets out a bit to see the world as she withdraws. I am judging her. Awful. If this adventure is teaching me one thing it is the reality of age, its burdens and its pains--maybe when it lightens up a bit again, I can make fun of the trials.