This morning I made the worst mistake ever since my mother-in-law moved in with us: I forgot she was in the room while I was on the telephone and I made a joke about her not dying. I nearly died when I remembered her at the kitchen table. It was an unforgivable act. When I told my husband of the oversight, he shrugged and said "Isn't that what happens to the old? They are like the furniture."
It is awful to think that way. No matter my complaints, I do still try to see the matriarch as an individual, a very old person and not a piece of furniture--but I forgot her presence in the kitchen this morning. Now, I see how easy it is for the old to lose their dignity; if we refuse to acknowledge them, how can they retain it? It must be very hard for workers in seniors' homes to recognize that humanity on a daily basis. I feel so guilty and can only promise myself it will not happen again; I will try every day, even it must become a mantra to live by: "My mother-in-law is a human being."
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