A phone call from North Ridge

I was on top of the trash bin, stomping trash – as if I would be up there stomping doughnuts, when my cell phone rang. I worked it out of my pocket and fumbled with the controls and panicked and shouted “Hello?” Well, I apologized to the nurse at North Ridge for startling here when I got there, but the gist of the call was that my friend was not doing well and they could not get in touch with family.

Thirty minutes later at the most I was at the nursing home and I stayed until about 10 am today. It was a step on the path, but not the end. The lady who heads the kitchen, Marla, made up a tray for those gathered and it included hot out of the oven home-made chocolate cookies. Oh, my goodness – they were good. My labs from my doctor’s visit were okay and so I chomped down once and for two agains.

I am always amazed at the caring and response of the people who work at North Ridge and the care and kindness provided by Heartland Hospice.

I came home and mowed the lawn and took a nap. That’s right, after a night in a chair and sweating while mowing, I slept in my clothes. I need to shower. It will be a “Grandma Shower” – get in, toss on shampoo and soap and rinse and get out. I so like being clean and am so annoyed by the chore of the cleaning. Maybe that is because when I was little, I had to stay in the tub until I could call out in all truth to my parents: “I’m wrinkling.”