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  • Graceless HippoGracelessHippo@mastodon.ie
    Jul 5, 2026, 9:52 AM

    There's details that are too distressing for me to deal with currently but I'll leave with this.

    Mom can write, but much (not all) is jumbled or wrong. She wrote 'cunt' which was hilarious to me because she's never uttered that word in my presence, almost certainly never written it either. Ever.

    I realised she was talking about Irish money which before 2001 was the 'punt'. We were 'talking' about a gift I'd brought for her.

    Even in moments like these it never hurts to have a laugh.

    This is a cheap gift shop coin that spoke to me in the airport before I left for mom's. I was trying to think of something that I could leave her with in hospital. That wouldn't matter if it went missing. And something that she could fidget with and have as something to do with her hands. At the time I'd been told she was non verbal. I'd downloaded some movies I knew she liked and would have sat and watched them with her. Pictured is a 'tree of life' coin in a gold colour with raised details in maroon and blue. The words on the front are 'the tree of life' over the top. And 'Ireland' at the bottom. There's a border linking them of celtic knotwork highlighted with black background. The central panel has an elaborate and intricate oak tree design. There's a leafy tree above, and the knotted roots below echo the above shape forming a circular design linked by the trunk. The branch tip leaves reach towards the outermost roots. This design is a celtic fable and has personal meaning to me. I gave her one. And I bought another for myself. We are, and always will be, connected, just as the two halves of the tree.
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  • HarriettMBHarriettMB@toot.wales
    Jul 5, 2026, 11:59 AM

    @GracelessHippo I’m very sorry you are having such a rough time of it, especially now with the warm weather and all things Quentin. 🫂💖

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  • Graceless HippoGracelessHippo@mastodon.ie
    Jul 5, 2026, 1:30 PM

    @HarriettMB

    There's never a good time for this kind of news. I just wish I was better at dealing with it. Feeling like the only adult in the room when my mom + her partner were there was a hard realisation. But once that sank in I started going through the paperwork & sorting their BP monitor. Got them into a routine with doing meds and regular BP readings. Did all the washing up, tidying, food and organising and liaising with nurses. I feel I should have stayed longer but nothing beats home.

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  • JB 🐎 :neuro:AnAutieAtUni@beige.party
    Jul 5, 2026, 12:39 PM

    @GracelessHippo No doubt you will have been an invaluable presence to your mom. The coin is such a wonderful gift idea, and the movies too. So thoughtful. To be able to find something to laugh about is amazing, too. Thinking of you. This must all be super hard on both you and her. Hope you can get a bit of rest. 🫂 :BlahajHuggingHeart:

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  • JB 🐎 :neuro:AnAutieAtUni@beige.party
    Jul 6, 2026, 9:33 AM

    @GracelessHippo Fantastic article. Lots I didn’t know before. I love the symbol! Been doodling it a bit using pyrography. Been a few years though (due to health issues and university studies). Reading this makes me want to get back to it… maybe try to draw in some of the hundreds of species that trees, especially ancient oaks, support.

    A simple drawing using pyrography (wood burning) of a tree with symmetrical roots and branches. Words around it read, “As above, so below. As within, so without.”
    Some pyrography (wood burning) doodles on a plank of wood with tree and some patterns. Also a small wood round made of a slice of oak tree with a drawing using pyrography on it of a tree with roots beneath.
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