Sick and Bored

What do you do for a hospital-bound octogenarian who is bored? That’s the question my sister and I pondered this week. After my sister reported Mom’s complaint of boredom, I tried to engage her in a game of tic-tac-toe. But she seemed not to remember how to play it.

That really worried me. Has this whole ordeal affected her mental functions? She was sharp as a steel-tipped arrow before; now she seems more like the kind of kids’ arrow with Velcro; the loops don’t always engage.

My sister and I each used some creative thinking to make Mom’s Thursday in the hospital a bit less boring. Sis went to the store and bought a colorful gift bag and filled it full of fun stuff, including game books that are not too challenging. She also got colorful gel pens, little pads of paper and, best of all, a small clipboard for the pads of paper. Mom was delighted because her communication is still mostly through writing, and the small clipboard is easy to keep by her bed.

My contribution was art therapy (which turned out to be more therapeutic for me than Mom). I took my watercolors and painted a couple of small pictures of the spring flowers that she’s missing by being cooped up in the hospital (the azaleas are spectacular right now). These made her face light up and we hung them on the bulletin board in her room.

However, when I handed her paper and paint brush and suggested she paint, she seemed at a loss or disinterested. Perhaps it would be no different if she were well; she’s never been a painter.

Later, when I took Dad to see her, Mom asked me on her new clipboard pad, “Will you stay with me tonight?” It broke my heart to tell her that I had to stay at home with Dad, reminding her that he cannot stay alone. She just got this faraway, blank look on her face, which I read as sad but resigned.

Sue