the right to folly

a diary of my mother's stubborn resistance to accept help

21 November 2024

I asked my mother to leave her purse at home. You see, every time I take her out, to lunch, to the market… anywhere, she spends an inordinate amount of time retracing her steps, looking for her credit card, her glasses, her phone. So, I asked her to leave it all at home. “You will feel so free!”

She might say I ‘bullied’ her.

I left my mom at the booth in the Mexican restaurant so I could pay for parking. Upn my return, I found her reading the menu in a pair of VERY stylish glasses. It seems that the woman at the next table overheard my mother request ‘readers’ from the waiter, the woman knew he would not return with anything, and so, the kindly neighbor leant my mother her glasses.

So stylish! I asked the kind and chic woman where to buy a pair for my mom, and she said they cost $1,100. I didn’t even know that was a thing!