Last week, during a few days of continuous rain, the old man slept heavily during the day and when he woke up, he mistakenly thought the evening was early morning. Fortunately, it only lasted a few days, but the 90-year-old neighbor had already shifted her schedule from day to night, sleeping during the day, and staying up all night making tea, reading newspapers, and cleaning the house, which made her son very anxious. He was always in a state of unrest, worried that she might wander around at night, making it hard to control.
Recently, he accidentally met an old friend from university. Both of them were in the same situation of taking care of elderly parents, so they found it easy to talk and empathize with each other. His friend said that her mother's physical and mental health had been deteriorating month by month, and living with her required learning patience. Probably due to the habits formed during the subsidized economy when food and clothing were scarce, her mother would knock on her daughter's door every 15 minutes to ask what time to cook and never remembered what she had eaten. With familiar dishes like cabbage, she would claim she had never eaten it before. There was even a time when she asked for steamed rice rolls, but when her daughter bought them, she threw them away and asked for pho instead.
Whenever neighbors came over, her mother would complain about having to cook and clean every day, making the neighbors initially look at her daughter like she was an alien. She had to explain to the neighbors that her mother was confused. It was also normal for her mother to constantly call and ask her whenever she left the house. Wherever she went, she would tell her mother what time she would be back, but her mother would usually call her about 30 minutes before the deadline.
It was very tiring and frustrating, but eventually, she had to get used to it. She considered it her fate, and after all, she was taking care of her own mother, not a stranger. He comforted her: Going to the temple to worship Buddha all year round is not as good as taking care of your parents at home. Parents are the living Buddhas! She smiled sadly: I know, but sometimes life feels meaningless when witnessing the autumn years of a person's life. She had to mentally prepare herself for the dissatisfaction of life and cultivate patience.
