I should say refrigerators. Yesterday I cleaned out the one in the kitchen and the one in the garage. So many things were out of date- I'm talking years not days or months. Cream cheese from 2004. Jellies and ice cream toppings that have separated so much they were unrecognizable. Even ice cream so old and dried out. I threw away SO much food.
Flour in both refrigerators- 4-5 years old. And then flour in the cabinets as well. There were unopened canned goods in the refrigerator. I don't know why and I didn't ask.
Mom found a case of Egg Beaters in the refrigerator in the garage the day before. She thinks someone came in and put them in her fridge because she couldn't remember buying them. She argued with Dad for about ten minutes that he must have put them there. He told her she bought them at Sam's. She was getting very aggravated and so I stepped in and told her it was the Egg Beater Fairy. That made Dad laugh and cut the tension. Mom laughed too.
Mom was at a podiatrist appointment when I cleaned out the fridges. I threw away Dad's Bleu Cheese because I couldn't figure out how old it was. There were two containers of it and really- how does one figure out if Bleu Cheese is bad or not? It looks bad when you get it. Anyhow I told Dad we would get him some more. He was fine with it. Dad gave me permission to throw away many iffy things.
I felt like a thief or at least some kind of criminal throwing away so much food. But I also felt so bad for Mom and Dad. It is showing in how far they have slipped. Mom is a registered nurse. She knows about safety measures. But she can't see well enough to read the labels and she can't think clearly enough to remember to throw away older things. And Dad must not be paying attention either.
This trying to go through things without Mom catching me is difficult too. How do I honor her while sneaking around her back? I can only respond to myself that it is done out of love and that she would understand if she was thinking clearly.
3 comments:
The few times in the last couple years when I've gone to get a pop and seen something that looked bad or old I've thrown it away.. I didn't realize how bad it was.
You are doing for Grandma what she would want you to do if she was in a normal state of mind. I wonder to if Grandpa doesn't throw things out anymore because he to is worried about being "caught".. I know he does a lot to not rock the boat because he feels he's always being attacked.
Sometimes I asked what would my Mom have done if the situation was reversed? It is all so hard and different. Be thankful that your Mom was a nurse and know that she would be doing just what you are doing. God has blessed you with such a caring heart!
Every time I go to see my parents I do this. It's horrifying.
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