In Which My Grandmother Tells the Story of Her Mother’s Death
Well, sometime after that, then, Mother broke her hip. After we got her out of the hospital, we thought we were going to bathe her, but she wouldn’t let us bathe her. There’s a place in the Bible that says the children should not look on their parents uncovered, or something like that. I don’t remember the words, but she was a firm believer of that. She’d let Eola bathe her, though.
She continued walking with her walker, but was having terrible pain. She was real touchy on her hip. And so we went back to the doctor, and he made X-rays. And he said, “The pins have slipped.” Said, “They’re going into the flesh is the reason you’re having so much pain.” And said, “Now, I can take them out right here in the office and give you relief, but you won’t ever walk anymore.” But said, “We can go to surgery, and I can put in a ball.” And so she said that’s what she wanted to do.
The surgery went great, and it don’t seem like it was very many days before they began taking her to therapy. And she came in one time, and she was just smiling. And she says, “I took a few steps today.” And so we were all just so pleased.
But she didn’t want to eat, and I was trying to get her to eat. And I said, “Oh, Mother, don’t do like that!” when I was trying to feed her. And she looked at me, you know, so strange, and she said, “You don’t usually talk to me like that.” I was scolding her.
The next morning, I reckon it was, I was in the room with her, and I got up and walked over to Mother and put my hands on her arm, and it was just burning up. So about that time the doctor walked in, and I said, “Doctor, she is just burning up with fever.” He switched right around and went to the desk, and he called the other doctor, and they got me out of the room and they did a spinal tap, and she was all the time saying, “Mildred, don’t let them do this.” And you know I couldn’t do anything about it, and Mother never did talk anymore after that.
When Olivia called that time, she said, “Mother, you want me to come?”
And I said, “Well, why don’t you wait until we go home.”
And she said, “I’m coming for you, not for Mother Ollie.”
The next morning they said, “She’s become a medical problem now,” and they moved us up to the next floor. I always will feel angry toward them. Because they knew she was dying.
They got her in this room, and she laid just as quiet, didn’t move a muscle. I had gotten my cot in, and Olivia was sitting in the big chair, and she was where she could see Mother Ollie, you know. And finally she said, “Mother Ollie’s not breathing.” And she was gone just like that.