Chapter 7 - LORRAINE LEARNS THE BLUE ORGANIZER
Lorraine did not move back into my house.
There was no reason.
After discharge, a social worker helped arrange short-term home support while her building elevator remained unavailable.
Her physician reviewed her mobility needs.
A pharmacist simplified the medication system where possible and educated her directly.
Not me.
Not Daniel.
Lorraine.
I attended one appointment because she asked.
At the end, the pharmacist handed Lorraine the organizer.
She looked at me.
“You’re not going to do it?”
“No.”
“What if I make a mistake?”
“Then we build a system that helps you not make one.”
“I’m old.”
“You’re seventy-one.”
“That’s old.”
“It’s not dead.”
She laughed.
Over several weeks, Lorraine learned.
She used alarms.
Large-print medication lists.
Pharmacy-prepared packaging for some prescriptions.
Daniel also received a copy of the list.
I insisted on nothing.
Lorraine did.
“If you’re my son, you should know this too.”
Daniel looked embarrassed.
Good.
One afternoon Lorraine called me excitedly.
“I did a refill online.”
“Congratulations.”
“It was awful.”
“Also believable.”
Then she said:
“I think I made myself helpless with you.”
I paused.
“That’s a big sentence.”
“I liked being taken care of.”
“Most people do.”
“And Daniel liked not having to do it.”
“Yes.”
“So we both called it your duty.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then:
“That wasn’t fair.”
“No.”
May you like
She did not ask me to come back.
That made the apology stronger.
