Mrs. Dunkin #8

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

8

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to interrupt you.  I didn’t see you were on the phone” Cheryl said.

“Don’t worry about it. Wait a second I have to write something down.”  I wrote look for family tree and put it on the bulletin board on the wall.   “I was talking to my granddaughter, Jill.  She is such an inquisitive child.  She always calls and asks me questions.  She’s done that ever since she was old enough to learn to dial the phone."

“That’s very nice.”

“Yes, it was nice.  Now I’m not so sure.  I’m worried about the time when she calls and I won’t be able to answer her question.  What will I do then?  You know the Alzheimer thing.”

“I understand your concerns about that but think about it this way for now.  Not everyone has the answers to everything whether they have Alzheimer’s or not.  How old is she?” 

“She’s thirteen going on twenty one”. 

“Oh, one of those, that’s how I was when I was that age” and she laughed.

“I was always in a hurry to grow up myself.  If I only knew then what I know now I wouldn’t be as eager.”

“Annie if you want to go for the tour we better get going.  I’ll have to get back to work in a little while.”

“How about we sit here and talk instead?  I can do the tour another time.” 

“I’m all for that.  My back’s killing me.”  

“Okay dear, tell me how you came to do this kind of work?”

“I’m going to nursing school and I needed money.  I took this job so I could put it towards my education.  At least that’s what I thought at the time.  I found that I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here.  It’s got me thinking when I do get my degree; I might want to do nursing with geriatric patients. I think I could make a difference in their lives. ” 

“What makes you like working with older patients?” 

“Part of it is the wealth of knowledge they have.  I’ve learned more about history from some of the residents than I learned when I was in school.  Also, most of the time, the residents are so appreciative and good hearted of what I do for them.” 

“Only most of the time?”

“I guess it’s not that some aren’t on purpose but with the unique situations of everyone sometimes they just can’t.” 

“I think I get what you’re saying.  My dad had Alzheimer’s and he could be very difficult at times.  I think it takes a special kind of person to deal with older people and I think this is a good place to figure out if this is where your heart will lead you.”

“It’s exactly what I thought.”

“Are you married?” 

“I’m engaged to a paramedic.  Next year, we are getting married.”

“How thrilling.  I suppose you’re getting all your plans ready.”

“Kind of, we are going to be paying it for ourselves.  Neither one of us has a big family so we thought we would have something small.”

“I’ve learned over my years, people spend more time worrying about how they can make it into an extravaganza then about the actual getting married and what that means.  When Hank and I got married, we had a small ceremony. We had our parents and a few classmates and went out to dinner.  I never regretted doing it that way.  On that wall, there’s a picture of me and Hank on our wedding day.”

Cheryl got up close and looked at the picture.  “Wow, you looked gorgeous.  Not that you don’t now” she said apologetically. 

“I know what you mean dear.” 

“Your husband was quite the handsome man and you both look so happy.”

“We were.” 

“Where did you graduate from?” 

“I don’t mean to brag but we went to Harvard.  He got a scholarship and got a degree in business.  He eventually became a CEO.  I got a degree in English and taught high school.” 

“Annie, it’s time for your medication” Katie said as she came into the room and handed me the little container and water. 

Cheryl stood up and said, “I guess it’s time for me to get back to work.  I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Bye dear” and she left.  “I like that girl.”

“Most of the residents do.  She has a way with them.  Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?” 

“No, I think I might lie down for a while.  Is it okay if I close the door to keep out the noise?”

 

“Sure, I’ll close it on my way out.  Have a good nap.” 

“Thanks.”

 



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.