Ashland — February 15, 2026. A gray Sunday, fog covered dawn’s fingers. 50 F outside, rain and 55 are expected today. Snow is supposed to be coming this week — 20% chance.
My cold is worse, and I felt sicker yet when I read of Trump’s ‘Valentine Day’ letter to his supporters. Part of it read, “It’s Valentine’s Day! I love you, and I was pretty sure you loved me back! Is everything okay? Roses are red, violets are blue. Do you still love Trump, as I love you? Before you read my letter – do you still love me and our great movement?”
Trump makes it about himself first and foremost. Second — money.
Family drama ensued last night. Sis went down to pick up Mom’s dishes, tidy, see if Mom needed anything. Hearing Mom on the phone, she stopped and listened. Mom was telling tales on sis and sis’s husband. Then Mom said she was going to kill herself.
Sis intervened. Turned out Mom was talking to daughter number 1, down in Georgia. Sis set up a conference call with me and the other sisters to talk about what should be done. I recommended calling 911. They didn’t like that. Looking up information, I suggested they call Resolve, an Allegheny County function set up for situations like this. After more conversation, that’s what sis agreed to do.
Sis called and spoke with an intervention specialist who said they could send a team out. If they didn’t send a team, they recommended sis stay with Mom the night to keep tabs on her, which sis said that she couldn’t do.
Another sister, let’s call her #2, lives near Mom and sis. She called Mom. She texted us that Mom sounded loopy and claimed she’d taken pills, type and number unspecified. Sister #2 also said that Mom told her she’d left an envelope of money for her. Mom added, “My body would be there, but I won’t be.” Sis called 911.
At midnight Eastern time, sis told us the police and EMT arrived and took Mom to the hospital. Later, we heard the needed paperwork was signed and approved to begin the process of evaluating Mom. They’re looking for a geriatric bed in a psychiatric bed for further evaluation. Sis went into Mom’s room afterward and found a stash of used adult diapers stuffed between Mom’s pillows. That’s stunning — appalling. Mom was a clean freak. Those hidden dirty diapers are alien to everything Mom has ever been, ever done.
Now we’re trying to learn where things will go. Mom and sis agree, Mom is not returning to sis’s house. The family agrees that Mom, 90, hallucinating, a fall risk, should not be allowed to return home but the state and county might have the final word on that.
Today finds The Neurons playing “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” in my morning mental music stream. The 1985 hit song was written by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, and sung by Lennox and Aretha Franklin. The song’s presence has nothing to do with Mom’s current situation; I was just thinking of my sisters and the song began playing in my head.
Hope the day finds you healthy and happy, and that grace and peace drop by to alleviate your fears and anxieties.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 
hell of a way to head into spring, isn’t it. Im guessing none of this is a big surprise to any of you, and we do get into weird places in our old person heads sometimes. Your Mom does sound agreeable and amenable to change, and I think that’s a good sign. My mother had to be almost forcibly removed from her home, and I became the bad daughter.
At a guess, it seems like she needs watching, not guarding, and have someone to tend her as necessary. The hardest part can be losing the familiar and dealing with new surroundings and habits.
Just a thought: maybe someone to stay with her in her own familiar spaces? sometimes it’s the loss of the familiar that sends them over the edge.
I wish you and your siblings luck with this, It can be a drain on all of you. Been there. =)
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Thanks, Judy, but no, Mom is fighting us on everything. Mom wants someone to stay with her but no one in the family is available and Mom doesn’t want outsiders. The one friend who did it before turned us down this time. Thank you for your thoughts. Cheers
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In the vaults of hell, the annual trade, who will be exchanged for the worst of the worst. As trump heads in Charles Manson goes to heaven. 🙂
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It will iron out as it should. It could take only a few weeks of professionals doing the physical care, while family is back to being family (as opposed to caregivers who “boss their mom around”.) It’s excruciating to go through, but the other side of the passage (not meaning death, only familiarity for your mom) is there. Bless her and here’s to her comfort. And for all the rest of you, too.
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