All dolled up and nowhere to go

The only thing more frustrating for my mom than living alone is having a planned day out canceled.

Whether it's because of the weather, the damn "Covic" or the fact that she doesn't drive, well, it gets her dander up. (Actually, that's a quaint way of saying, as she usually does, "That really pisses me off.")

My mother has a hard time sitting still, especially after two or three days without company. After her most recent cancellation, she told me over the phone at 10 a.m.: "I'm sitting here all dolled up (mostly because she gets that way while most of us are still in bed in the morning). I fixed my hair and put on my makeup. And now I have nowhere to go."

If my mother drove, she would likely have less idle time; it is up to my siblings and me, friends and others to get her where she wants to go. She doesn't ask for much: grocery shopping for a "few things" that end up filling six or seven bags, the nail salon, the dollar store, out to eat, occasionally a movie. 

That last one she's missed greatly since going to movie theaters became impractical after COVID. And when you have only a few channels on your TV, well, you tend to ask frequently why you can't see the new streaming movies everyone is talking about. 

Here's a sample:

"Why can't I see (insert new movie title here)?"

"Well, mom, it's because you only have basic cable. That gets you Action News, "I Love Lucy" reruns and "Dancing with the Stars," but not much else. 

"We can get you another plan so you can see ... " (here, I am cut off) 

"I'm not paying anymore for the damn TV!!"

It is not wise to suggest at that point that you get what you pay for. 

Movie-wise, mom relies on a channel that is simply called MOVIES. That's fine when the network is showing a day of Shirley Temple flicks or anything with Robert Redford, but not when it has little to offer but Charles Bronson or "The Thin Man" series.

The movies she does love are a connection for my mom to her past. Although I'm not sure what part of that past prompted her to call me crying the other day to say Sidney "Porter" had died. She meant  Poitier, the graceful star of "In the Still of the Night" and "Guess Who Came to Dinner?" 

"Everybody is dying on me." 

It was bad enough when Betty White died, but I had to gently remind her that Poitier was not among her circle of friends. And that the movie titles are "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?''

And guess who's already made plans for our next visit?

"I'll be ready at 11."


 









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