This is my last night of my visit to see Mom. I flew in from California for her 90th birthday. I hadn’t been to see her in quite a while, and it is getting more and more difficult to talk with her on the phone. She doesn’t hear too well.

I mentioned in another post that I have a lot of feelings and impressions to process about this visit before I can write about it comprehensively and coherently. One of the major difference between this visit and others is Mom’s inability to walk. This is happened recently. Whether it was caused by her hospital visit of about a month ago during which she was inactive for a number of days or by something else, it seemed to happen all of a sudden.

I was pleased to be able to get her from the bed to the chair by myself today. Cheryl usually does this but Mom wanted to get up before she arrived. So we did it.

Pictures:

After Mom got in bed for the night, we spent some time together. I showed her some of the pictures of her grandchildren and great grandchildren in California when she asked about them. We also reviewed the pictures and videos of her party.

It has not been easy to maintain my daily painting/drawing goals. I haven’t posted any of them because they are terrible. Perhaps I am out of my creative element; in Mom’s space instead of mine. Maybe it is related to the mixed, unprocessed feelings I have. I really don’t know.

Below is a pencil sketch of Mom. I can draw generic faces pretty well. Sketching faces that resemble a particular person, is another matter. I have trouble. This goes double for familiar faces of loved ones. Does the emotional connection with a person impair the ability to create a likeness?

Mom was resting in her chair in the living room. Here is my sketch of her, done very tentatively.

This is the view from her chair. I drew this yesterday.

With the passage of time, I hope I can boil down the essence of this visit and express it in writing as well as in more articulate drawings and watercolor studies.