Hi Elaine

To me it looks like "I had to KEEP my mother".
What appears to be an R is more like an old fashioned K, and if you look at his "e in other words they are the same as the next two letters in the word. Last letter does not look much like a "p" but it does bear a slight resemblance to the "p" in the word "pay" a bit further down the page.

Trish L.