“Stephie, I can’t do this anymore,” my mother’s resigned voice sobbed into the phone. With tears in my eyes, I choked out a lame “I know, mom.”
My mother was in the late stages of her dementia. She was often agitated, unpredictable, emotionally labile, and profoundly confused. Her caregiver had just called me to beg for my assistance. Minutes prior, my mother had tried to elope (again) out the back door of her home of over 20 years. The caregiver had tried to block her escape, and, in her fearful state of mind, my mother wielded a wooden dowel like a baseball bat, threatening to club her caregiver if she did not get out of her way. The caregiver dialed me and handed the phone to my mother. My familiar voice did the trick: she came out of her rage and panic.
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