We have a large mirror at the end of the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and the bathroom. Sitting in front of the mirror is a small table with some pictures on it. The first few days after moving in my mom would stop in the hallway and say "What is down there?" or "Why is that table in the middle of the hallway, it's blocking the way." I explained that the table was against a mirror and the hallway ends at the mirror. She looked skeptical, but stopped asking about it for a few days.
Yesterday Jesse found her in the hallway, talking to the mirror. "Who you talking to Mom?"
"I'm talking to Sharon but she won't answer me back, she just stares at me."
"Mom, that's you. Sharon is at work. Come closer and you will see it's a mirror attached to the wall."
She remained unconvinced.
Tonight she started down the hall to go to the bathroom and quickly ducked back into the living room. "Sharon! Come here quick." I knew what was coming... "what's wrong Mom?"
"Look down there" she whispered. I stepped into the hallway.
"Yes, it's my reflection. That's a mirror."
"Shhhh, keep looking." Then she stepped into the hallway beside me. "See, that's me! It freaks me out."
What a frightening experience for her, thinking that there is a hallway that leads to a secret area of the house, where women stare at you and don't answer you when you speak to them. Then to realize that the woman at the other end is you. It is disconcerting to realize that normal everyday items could become frightening. But if I think about how prominent mirrors are in horror movies and how they are used by children in darkened bathrooms to scare the beejeezus out of each other, I can see why it would scare someone who is trying to process a new reality everyday. However she is not frightened by the mirror in the bathroom.
I am now in bed with MaMere, typing this blog while she tries to forget the strangers in the mirror... The mirror will be coming down tomorrow but I think there will be many more opportunities to see our ordinary household items in a brand new way.
What similar experiences have you had with your loved ones? What household items have become sources of fear, wonder, or puzzlement? Please share.
Thanks,
Sharon
My grandfather lived with my husband and I before we moved to Waco.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't reached the stage where things frighten him, but we were constantly amused as he exposed the grandkids to his gruffness around my dad. Ever the polite grandfather, he would lean over and whisper (really thinking we couldn't hear him) curses to my dad after dad would tell him what he aughtta or aught not be doin'.
Granddad suddenly had this habit of resting his finger just at the end of his nose so that it looked as if he were digging around a bit. It annoyed dad, so dad told him to quit it. Not saying a word, he slowly removed the index finger from his nose and as he brought it back down to his palm . . . the middle one came up.
And so we learn more about the old man. :)
Love it. There is something so freeing about the loss of inhibition. She does things that the twins did when they were little and it cracks me up how having her is so similar to having a 4 yr old who knows how to curse.
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