“I am so happy to see you,” were the first words that escaped Noelina Prospere-Medor’s lips when Stabroek News visited her yesterday at the Palms Geriatric Home.
An inmate of the Palms since October last year, after being transferred from the Georgetown Public Hospital, Prospere-Medor entered the spotlight in September, when her London-based son came to Guyana looking for her. Sylvester Medor had returned to Guyana for the second time in two years to see his mother only to find her missing. A search for her proved fruitless and he returned to London without seeing her.
A few days later, his “missing” mother was found locked in a room in a bottom flat at Craig, East Bank Demerara. Medor was informed and subsequently contacted the Ministry of Human Services from London asking that his mother be taken care of until he could return to make more permanent arrangements for her. He reportedly could not return immediately as he was undergoing a knee operation.
The 85-year-old Prospere-Medor has since settled in at the Palms.
As this newspaper approached her bed where she was lying, though she is unable to sit up on her own she made an attempt to get up to extend greetings. After much persuasion, she decided to remain in repose. It was quite evident that she longs for company since, she repeatedly pleaded with the reporter not to leave her bedside.
She was in high spirits, anxious and ready to chat. When asked how she was coping, she quietly and promptly responded, “I am all right. I don’t have any problems here.”
Her memory seems to be failing her to some extent as she would reply incorrectly to her first name when asked, though she never gets the Medor mistaken. Her voice fluctuates and one has to strain to hear her sometimes. But she is still the well-spoken and well-mannered woman Stabroek News has come to know. She likes to offer compliments and would ask politely to be told who it is that she is speaking to after saying, “I must thank you very much for paying me this visit.”
As she is bedridden, she related to this newspaper that she likes to lie and look at the birds when they fly by as her bed is near a window and she can see the sky. “I like to look at the birds when they are flying in the air,” she said, “and I like to hear stories but I don’t have anyone to read one to me so I look at the birds….”
When Stabroek News enquired from her about her health she replied, “I feel strong, you know.” However, she still feels cold from time to time and would ask to be covered.
When asked about her son Sylvester Medor, she told Stabroek News that she still hasn’t heard from him. “I know him. He is not here, but I miss him. Tell him I say plenty of howdy and he can come and see me.”
Sylvester Medor had told Stabroek News last year that he would have returned to see his mother in eight weeks, after knee surgery which he had to undergo in the UK, to make permanent arrangements for her to stay somewhere.
The man had initially explained to Stabroek News the circumstances surrounding the years-long estrangement from his mother; but said he had been sending her money all the while.
He said also that all he wanted to do was take care of his mother in her twilight years and was not interested in any possessions she might have as her former caretakers had alleged.
Asked about the things she likes, Prospere-Medor said, “I like to eat a lot of cakes; any nice cake and I like tea, too. I like it when it is warm. Oh! I like sweets too.”
She also spoke of how she likes to dream and of how pleasant her nights are. “I have pleasant nights and I like to dream of angels.”
Prospere-Medor still has the ability to competently conduct a conversation and can dominate it at times as well. Before the end of the visit, she enquired from the reporter what type of day she was having and what plans she had for the remainder of the day.
When this newspaper was ready to leave, though her countenance fell and sadness was evident, she calmly said, “I understand that you have to leave but must please, please, come and see me again. Have a pleasant and enjoyable day.”
