auntiegwens 2 days in Glasgow

After returning home from Riga, early next morning we were packed up again and headed to the Mother country. As my parents become older and frailer I feel more and more guilty about the level of support my sister is having to provide as I live so far away. I haven't written much as its been fairly depressing stuff but we have been through 3 months of chaos and more chaos.

My mother was formally diagnosed with dementia 2 years ago, since December she has been in full time nursing home care, looking after her 24 hours a day 7 days a week has taken the most awful toll on my dad and after the weekend from hell and several weeks of broken sleep and her continuously rising levels of agitation and aggression she finally went into care. My mother as she is now is unrecognisable from my mum of a few years ago. Since going into care she has gone downhill even more rapidly but I think she seems to have plateaued and I hope she will stay at this level for a wee while.

It's been fairly grim and since she went into the home my dad has been very low in mood and really turned his face to the wall. He has ended up in hospital with repeated falls and a whopper of a chest infection. My sister and I have been frantic with worry, she became safe but isn't in the best place, he's become our worry and every time we phoned or visited we had the fear we wouldn't find him alive. He had hit rock bottom and was taken into hospital, just about everything wrong with him and the process of getting him back to his own self began, so after a few weeks in hospital and lots of new equipment, panic buttons, falls alarms and the like he has come home again.

 So we head up for a few days so we are there whilst he comes out of hospital, he doesn't want to come and stay with me so back up the M6 I go, I am getting a dab hand at Glasgow hotels now, this time we stayed at GoGlasgow urban hotel due to its proximity to the hospital, loved the decor, breakfast and staff superb, owned by a family company who give 50% of their profits to local charities, they also give you a Tunnocks tea cake in the room, I was mightily pleased by that, himself was very enamoured of the retro style phone although he did not eat it.

We then had a very welcome complimentary night at One Devonshire Gardens, himself had mentioned to staff that we hadn't slept well on our previous anniversary stay, steady yourselves now, due to the bed. Being the all round excellent hotel they are they offered us a free night and as we spend lots of time in Glasgow  we were very pleased to accept. They gave us quite a swish room too, completely different in style to GoGlasgow Urban but lovely none the less. The bath in the bedroom thing is is quite a few of their rooms, we had that previously when we stayed in the Vettriano suite.

The service in both was top notch, I loved the decor in GoGlasgow and as its at least £100  cheaper per night, I guess I will be staying there lots but because One Devonshire is where we got married if I have the cash I will be happy to go there at least on our anniversary. Go and stay in either, they're both brilliant hotels.

My dad is now home and has become fixated on the idea of my mums funeral, God love him, last few weeks you wouldn't have got good odds on it being him but there you go. It's become a thing he has to get fixed, so we sort it out, we have found the paperwork for the cemetery lair my mums parents are buried in, we also have a spare slot in the lair her aunt and uncle are buried in, were that kind of family, 2 plot kind of toffs, that's us. We have bought a funeral bond and chosen hymns, it's been a bit surreal but my mum is completely unaware of it all. 

I was with her just 5 weeks ago and on this visit I'm not convinced she recognised me when I went in. She was less well kempt than I would have liked to see her and they seem to have given up putting her damned teeth in which is my big pet peeve, they had been lost for weeks but turned up in my mums handbag, also lost in one of the staff lockers, the mind boggles.. Despite looking like Draculas granny she has managed to acquire an amour, she was sitting holding his hand when I arrived, I had been pre warned by my sister about this man , who coincidentally has the same name as my dad, I guess she just shouted out 'Jim' and this wee man answered, he seems happy enough with it so I guess I am pleased she's found a pal. Hopefully it'll stop her kleptomania, this visit she had someone else's teddy bear, handbag and the photo frame on her bedside table was of people she was sure were her family, I have a very nice looking younger brother and a cute wee niece I am completely unaware of. Still, I'm not having to buy presents for them or babysit. Every cloud and all that.