You remember my long drawn out story about how my dad fell through the roof and broke his neck, which healed right on schedule but he caught a staff infection (which was all in the news that autumn) while in the hospital and the damage it did to his internal organs ended up in his death last June (after almost two years in the hospital). Well, here it is one year later and MY MOTHER has been hospitalized with salmonella poisoning from these tomatoes - she's in Oklahoma. She had been vastly improved from before my fathers death. I truly believed she could successfully live at home out in the country all by herself - she was doing so well. You may remember how I detailed some of her mental health issues, issues that she did not seek any professional help with until all hope was lost with my father (can you say, too little too late???). Well now with all this crisis she has slipped back into deep depression and has to be confined to a nursing home. So sad. Years from now I get brag that my parents were brought down by one misstep and a bad tomato.

Oh, John, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. Has she had to sell her place then? Or is the nursing home a temporary stop, hopefully, til she recovers more?

Hey John, I'm sorry your mother is not well. Will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully once she feels better they can address the depression. The nursing home might be a good place as she'll be surrounded by people and activities to draw her attention. I've always thought it must be terribly difficult for a remaining spouse to be so alone after the loss of a loved one. Especially the ones that have been together 50+ years! It took my MIL years (and meds) to move forward. Now she's keeping company (lol, isn't that quaint) with an older gentleman she's known for years that also lost his spouse. They have a blast together keeping the roads hot or just spending quiet time together, and we're so happy for them. It's been 10 years this month since dad (inlaw) died, she just started dating a little over a year ago. She was one of those we never thought would live this long without him. Now I think she may well outlive me!

The nursing home is supposed to be a temporary thing while she regains her strength. She still has some health issues that need monitoring and has been very defiant with the docs and nurses (pulls out her IV's, etc.) so they would love to send her on her way. I'm not sure how long this will take, personally I hope she doesn't go home. She needs to be around people. Living alone out in the country is only going to cause problems in the future. But she's difficult and cranky so it may take a while for her to find friends at the home. She's now on a campaign to get us kids to take turns taking care of her like we did for my dad but so far nobody has rushed out there to help. Part of her mental health problems is that she won't talk on a telephone so I have stated that if she wants my help she needs to call me or at least answer the phone when I call. grrrrrrr