"I just want to expire" she said

Her daughter and granddaughter came for a visit. As usual, anticipating the visit consumed her mind. I was glad they were coming; she has been very sad since her beloved cat, named "kitty", died. I wondered if they knew that this visit was the only thing of importance in Rose's world.
They arrived about twenty minutes later than they had said to expect them. Not good. For a person without the fog and confusion of Dementia, this would be no big deal. Maybe you make a quick call to see if they're okay. But as a Caregiver for those with Dementia, I can tell you the entire world stops as this visit is looked forward to. Time drags by. I may be asked twenty or more times "when will they be here?"

The daughter is about 55, and the granddaughter around 25. They walk in and greet Mom, but immediately the daughter leaves her to come into the kitchen and talk with me. I excuse myself as quickly as I can, politely, to go and get a few household chores done. I know they may only stay half an hour, as is the daughter's habit. I want the entire time to be spent with my client. I'll be listening from the other room in case something comes up for which I am needed.
At first the conversation goes well. They fill Mom in on granddaughter's school, and talk about the plants on the deck. But then the daughter and granddaughter drift off into silence. Soon they're talking to each other, only, and I notice my client is looking off out the window, in silence.

I come in and drop a hint or two about possible conversation topics, then leave again.

This visit, amazingly, lasted an hour. As soon as the daughter and granddaughter walked out the door, Rose stated "I want to go to bed." It was about 12:30 in the afternoon. I said okay to that, and helped her to bed. We removed shoes, but otherwise she just climbed in "as-is". Laying her little gray head on the pillow she looked up at me and said; "I just want to lie here and expire."
I said "Okay. Since 'expire' means to breathe out, I want you to be sure and 'inspire' right away. If you expire, you must also inspire!"
She smiled.
"I don't feel very inspired today," she said quietly.

I thought... yeah... that wasn't a very inspiring visit. If only those two women could see the state they left their fragile mother and grandmother in.

In two hours I got her up and made her some toast with jam. I sat by her and we talked very animatedly about the birds and squirrels outside. We discussed the weather. We talked about the news headlines. I watched her come back to life like a little plant that hadn't been watered in some time. The rest of her day we interacted every few minutes. When her live-in caregiver arrived and asked her how she was doing, she smiled broadly and said "Great!"