My friend Joe called me a few weeks ago. He was on the way to his mom’s home in another state; on his way to sort through the long list of things he needed to do on her behalf, as her Power of Attorney and devoted son.
He was calling to say thank you; thank you for encouraging him months ago with the following words, “Enjoy your mom, Joe.”
I had the privilege of coaching and consulting with him and his family the many months previous, as their mom inched further into dementia, further into ailing health, and as she inched toward the end of her life.
Joe said, “you told me months ago to enjoy my mom. Enjoy her as my mom, let her enjoy me as her son. The last time I spent time with her in her home, we really did nothing except visit and just be together.”
He was on his way to his mom’s home now, because he had put off doing the long list of important tasks in favor of simply enjoying his mom. He expressed gratitude that he had taken the deep breath required to focus on being well versus a focus on doing more.
As I spend time with my dad, whose cognitive skills are changing regularly, I reflect on what Joe would say: “Enjoy your dad, Jill. Enjoy your dad.” ❤️
