Mary #37

This is a continuing story.  If you want to read from the beginning, please go to my side bar to the labels and click on story-Mary or click here.

37

Mary went in the kitchen and got a bottle of wine.  She put it on the coffee table, poured herself a glass and picked up her phone and went on the internet.  She wanted to see what they had to say about knitting chemo hats.  She found a good site.  Good thing her Ma had this soft yarn this should be perfect for the hat.  She found a pattern and started knitting.  This will work up quickly she decided.

It was getting to be about 2 and she wondered when Elizabeth would be back.  She decided to have something to eat and went in the kitchen and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took it on the porch.  Her phone started ringing.  

“Hello.”

“Hi Mary.”

“Elizabeth I was just thinking about you.  Do you know when you’re coming back?  I was trying to think of what we could have for supper.”

“I decided I’m going to sleep home tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive.”

“How did everything go today?”

“It was pretty tough.  Jody did a fantastic job on my hair. If I would have known what I looked like with short hair, I would have done it a long time ago” and she laughed.

“Did you go for the chemo class?”

“Yeah, Donna took me.  Listen to this; I’m going to get one kind of chemo that’s nickname is the red devil.”

“Oh goodness, they told you that?”

“For heaven’s sake, no.  I heard them mention the name when they told me I had cancer and I looked it up and read about it.  I’ll only be getting that for four weeks though.  I’ll also be getting another one until it would stop working.  If it does, they’ll switch to another one.”

“What time do you have to go tomorrow?”

“Mary would you pick me up and take me for my treatment we would have to leave my house by 10.  I need blood work done before treatment.”

“Of course I will.”

“I think Donna might be a little upset with me when I told her I wanted you to take me.  I really don’t want to bring up bad memories for her sitting in the chemo room.  They took us into the room today and I could see her turn pale at the sight of it.”

“I’m sure she understands.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.  I want to do a few things around here.  I’m also going to pack some more of my clothes.  I’d rather stay with you until I know how I’m going to react to the treatments.”

“That sounds good.  If you need anything tonight or just want to talk call and let me know.”

“Okay, Bye” and she hung up.

When Mary got off the phone, she clicked on the internet while she finished eating her sandwich.  She searched for the term red devil chemo and up came up with the drug.  It frightened Mary when she read about it and thought no wonder they call it the red devil and she shivered. 

Lulu jumped up next to Mary. 

 “Lulu, we’ll have to make sure we watch Elizabeth real close after she has her treatment so nothing happens to her” and Lulu purred loudly.

Mary got back to knitting when her phone rang again.   

“Hi Mary, are you busy” it was Sadie.

“No, I’m knitting.  Aren’t you still at work?”

“You would think wouldn’t you?  I just got escorted out of the building.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure.  No one would tell me.  They just told me to pack up my stuff and they would escort me out.  It was the craziest thing.  I didn’t have that many days left anyhow.  Did you talk to Paul?

“Yes, but I didn’t tell him you were the one who told me about the bankruptcy.  I wasn’t mean or anything to him.”

“He must have known I was the one to tell you.  Who else would it have been?”

“Well that creep. After they email me some papers I have to sign, I’ll be unemployed right with you.  I was very civil to him but now I’m going to call Paul and tell him what I really wanted to say.”

“Don’t bother Mary. What’s done is done.  It was like a morgue in there anyhow.  What are you knitting?””

“I was going to knit some chemo hats for Elizabeth.  She’s going for her first treatment tomorrow and I’m going to take her.”

“That’s so nice of you.  I’m going to start writing up a resume.  I have to start looking for a job now.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something Sadie.  I just know it.”

“You know from your lips…  You can call me anytime now day or night.  Good luck tomorrow.  I’ll talk to you later.  Bye”

“Bye Sadie” and  she hung up the phone and started to knit again. 

 

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

Mrs. Dunkin #30

This is a continuing story.  To see the rest click here.  

30

Julie, Sue and I went to the family room and watched the children play their games.  The next thing I knew Julie was touching me and saying “Mom we’ve got to go pretty soon.”

“What?  I must have dozed off.”

“Its 7:00 and I have to get you back by 8:00.  Do you want some dessert?  We already ate ours.”

“No, I’m still full.  We can go whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll have Sue pack up the dessert and then we can go.”

I got up and went to the bathroom and when I got back Julie was standing there with a whole bag full of different desserts.

“Oh the night staff will love me when I give them this I said” and I laughed.

I kissed everyone goodbye and Julie and I headed off.

When we got to my place, Julie helped me carry the stuff in.  I kissed Julie goodbye and I took the bag into the day-room where I saw the ladies sitting around.

“Anyone hungry, I’ve got a lot of desserts in here?”

“Sure” they all said.

“I’ll ask the nurse for some plates and silverware” and Nancy headed off.

I took all the desserts out and put them on the table.

“Everything looks so good” Gladys said.

“I think I’ll have a piece of that pie” Nancy said as she returned.

We all took what we wanted and I took the rest where the nurses and aides were congregated.  They were so pleased and said it would all be gone shortly. 

“How did it go at your families” Clara asked.

“It was great although I fell asleep.  The best thing happened though I went to see Stella and she’s doing pretty well considering what she’s been through.”

“Is that the friend Clara told us about that had the stroke” Audrey asked.

“Don’t think I’m telling tales out of school Annie but everyone wondered what was up with you the last couple of weeks.”

“That’s fine Clara.  I didn’t tell you that it was a secret.  But yes Audrey, that’s the friend.”

“I’m so happy” Gladys chimed in.

“We were so worried about you Annie.  I hope that means we’ll be seeing you in the day-room more.  We’ve missed you” Mildred said.

“Yes ladies, I promise.”

“I hate to be a party pooper but I think I’m going to go to bed” as Gladys called for an aide to take her to her room.

“I’m going to go too just as soon as I clean up here” and everyone left for their rooms.

The nurses and the aides thanked me again for the desserts and I went to my room.  When I was walking in I head my phone ringing and picked it up “Hello?”

“Mom, you left an afghan in my car.”

“Oh darn it.  I knitted it for Stella and forgot to take it in.”

“I’ll be at the hospital tomorrow seeing a patient would you like me to take it to her?”

“That would be great, honey.  I forgot to mention, could you go to my house and find my Christmas Village and bring it here?”

“All of it?”

“No, it’s too much.  Bring me the church and maybe about 10 of the stores, houses you know what I really like.”

“Do you want the batting for the snow?”

“Yes”

“Okay, is there anything else?”

“If I think of something I’ll call.  Thanks for taking me to Jerry’s today.  I had a wonderful time.”

“No problem mom.  I’ll see you soon.  Good night, I love you.”

“I love you too, good night.”

I put on my nightclothes and laid in bed thinking about the wonderful day I had.  I was so happy Stella sounded and looked so good.  I felt like a weight had been lifted off me.  I thought about my Christmas Village, I knew right where I was going to put it.  I couldn’t wait until Julie brought it.  I wondered if the other ladies decorated their rooms and I started to fall asleep. 

  

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

Mary #36

This is a continuing story.  If you want to read from the beginning, please go to my side bar to the labels and click on story-Mary or click here.

36

Mary went upstairs and got dressed.  When she came down Elizabeth was sitting in the living room waiting for Jody.

“Do you have any plans for today Mary?”

“No, I thought I would do something around here.”

“Have you been to town since you’ve come home?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you go and look around.  They have a lot of antique stores now.  They also have some stores that sell Amish furniture.  You could even go to City Hall and ask for a brochure about all the events they have in town during the year.”

“Still thinking about the B&B, huh?”

“I just want you to realize there are a lot of things to do here.  More than you think. We might be getting more built up as a county but to city folks; we still have the small town feel.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Elizabeth’s phone rang “Hello” she said.  “Tom, can I do it in a couple of weeks?  I’m just not up to it now.  Okay, I’ll call you.  Tell John, I’ll call him too when I’m ready.  Okay, bye" and she hung up the phone.  "Lawyers, Mitch is hardly dead” Elizabeth said indignantly to Mary.

“I’m sure he’s just doing his job.”

“I know.  That was Tom Baxter; do you remember him from school?  He’s our lawyer and his younger brother is John who is our financial guy.  Our stuff is going to be pretty cut and dry.  I can’t even think about going and talking about the will.”

“I hope I’m not being nosy but are you going to be all right with losing Mitch’s income?”

“Oh yes, Mitch made sure of that.  All the years I worked, we would put my money in the bank and then invest it.  He was really old fashioned in that way.  He made a good salary and we lived off that.  He always envisioned retiring early and enjoying ourselves.”

“I forgot to ask, are you still working?”

“No, I quit as soon as I got my diagnosis.  Mitch wanted me to concentrate on my treatments.”

“That was nice.”

We heard a knock on the door.   Mary opened it and Jody came in and said “Are you ready to get going?”

“Yep, I’m already” and they left. 

Mary thought about calling her boss but then thought better of it.  She decided if he was going to give her the axe, she would wait and call when she came back from town.

She put her shoes on and said “Lulu, I’m going to town.  You want to stay out while I’m gone?” and Lulu followed her out the back door.

She got in her car and drove to town.  She remembered how excited she got whenever her Ma or Pa drove there.  She chuckled to herself when she saw it now.  It seemed so big when she was small.  They still had a row of parking spots in front of each store.  That’s something they don’t have in a big city she thought.  They still had the grassy area in the middle of the town square with benches and the gazebo.

 She parked in front of city hall first and went inside.  She asked at the information desk for a listing of all the events for the year.  She walked out with it and went to a little coffee shop.  Got a cup of coffee and then went to one of the park benches by the gazebo and sat down.  She drank her coffee and looked at the list.  Summer band concerts in the gazebo, county fair, ice sculptures, Christmas pageant, and festivals.  Elizabeth was right.  There were a lot of things to do in town. 

She looked around the square from where she sat and noticed that the old ice cream parlor was still there.  There were a ton of antique shops and some clothing boutiques. 

She noticed a mother coming with a toddler and a baby in a stroller.  The mom and the toddler sat on a bench looking at a book.  After a while the toddler got up and started running around picking up the red and orange leaves and throwing them in the air and laughing.   

Mary’s heart started to sink.  She always thought by now she would have had a child but maybe that wasn’t in the cards for her.  She was still young enough but with no man in her life it was highly unlikely that that it would happen.

Mary got up and went to her car and drove home.  When she got there she was in a melancholy mood and thought she might as well get the call over to her boss. 

She dialed the phone.  “Hello Emily, this is Mary Jenkins.  Is Paul in? I’d like to talk to him.  Thanks”

“Hi Paul, I’m doing fine.  What’s this I hear about the hotel going bankrupt…Why didn’t anyone tell me…I can understand that but I thought I was upper management…How about my job…No, you can have them email me the papers with the details I’ll sign them and fax them back…Yes, that would be good…I’ll call if I need something…Bye Paul”

Mary thought well that’s done.  All those years at that hotel and they just threw me away like an old dish rag.  Now she would have to call Sadie later and tell her she’s in the same unemployment boat with her. 

Mary went and got a glass of wine and sat on the front porch.  What a day it’s been already she thought.  She wondered how Elizabeth was doing about getting her hair cut short.  She didn’t ever remember a time when she had short hair. 

Mary decided she would make Elizabeth some hats.  She went upstairs to the boxes with her Ma’s knitting things.   She found some pink and white baby yarn and circular needles.  If she was going to be bald, her head would be cold with winter coming and this yarn would be nice and soft on her head.

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