Mrs. Dunkin #41

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


This will be the last chapter for Mrs. Dunkin for now or perhaps forever.  I'm not really sure. 
Edited:  oops, I don't know why I posted this on Sunday.  Must be senioritis.   

41

I put my nightclothes on in the bathroom and when I came out, I was startled to see Jerry sitting at the table.  “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I didn’t know I was coming either and then I found myself here.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Not really, I do have a couple of things on my mind though that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Like what?”

“Sue told me about the great time she had doing the bingo but she said you seemed out of sorts.  I was worried about you.”

“I was a little distracted.  I found out Stella was in the hospital again and I was worried. I didn’t really want to tell Sue but Julie called tonight and said Stella is going to be fine.”

“That’s good.”

“What else is on your mind?”

“Can I ask you a question mom?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Why don’t you really want to sell the house all of a sudden?”

Make this good Annie I thought. “I told you on Christmas, I don’t think we’d get a good price for it.  All the work your father and I put into it.  I could almost hear him tell me it’s not a good time to sell. It’s as simple as that.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Why should there be another reason?”

“No, I’m not saying that.”

“You know I don’t need the money now so why should I take a loss on selling the house.  If you don’t want to move there we can rent it out.”

“I’m not saying that.  We got a Christmas card from an old co-worker of mine who was working for the company in Georgia.  He is transferring back here.  He asked if I knew any place that they could rent because they are over-extended and will probably take a loss on their house.”

“Oh?”

“I called him and asked him if he would be interested in my house.  He’s got four kids and it would be perfect for them.  He said he would be very interested.  I told him I would call him back and let him know for sure.”

“I see and is there a problem?”

“Not really, Sue, the kids and I have talked it over and we think it would be a good move for us.  I would want to pay rent.””

“Oh no, you would be doing me a favor.  You could pay the taxes and of course the utilities.  Since your father died, there are some things that need to be fixed.  You could pay for that.  When do you think you would be moving in?”

“We would be out of our house at the end of February.  They would be coming in March some time.”

“You’ve got a lot of work to do then to empty my house out first.”

“I know but Sue and I thought since she won’t be working full time for a while, she can work on it after she’s done here for the day and then the kids and I can come and help.”

“Sounds like a plan.  Have you told Julie?  I’m sure there are some things she might like.”

“No, I’ll have to do that.  I know she’s taken a few things.  I’ll call her tonight when I get home and talk to her about it.”

“This thrills me to no end Jerry, to know that family will be living there. Too bad Josh will be going to school out of state and won’t get to enjoy it much.”

“Have you talked to him about it recently?  He’s decided now he wants to go to a college in Ohio.  He did apply for a lot of schools in Ohio as well as out of state.”

“I’m surprised.  He always wanted to go out of state.  What changed his mind?”

“He said he wanted to be closer to home so he could come home on the weekends if he wanted to.  Also, when he looked at the cost for out of state he thought it was crazy.”

“Hmm, he knows his grandfather and I have put money away for all of his college, right?”

“Yes, but he seems to think he can get a good education here.  Besides, maybe the school he ends up picking WILL cost as much as out of state would” and he laughed.

I looked at the clock and it was going on 7:30.  I said “You better leave.  Sue is probably holding dinner for you.”

“You’re right.” He gave me a big hug and a kiss and started walking to the door.  He turned and said “Thanks mom, I love you.”

“I love you too Jerry.  Be careful going home.”

I turned the lights off and settled into the bed.  I knew I would have a good night’s sleep tonight.  

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Mrs. Dunkin #40

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

40

I don’t know how long I sat there but I heard “Mom, are you going for bingo?”

“Sue, good morning.”

“Morning, they needed extra help with getting people to bingo and they asked me if I would like to help.  They want me to really know the ins and outs of everything so when I talk to the residents families I know exactly what’s going on.  Are you all right?”

“No, I’m fine.  I was just getting ready to go out there.”  I didn’t want to tell Sue about Stella.  She was so excited about going to bingo. You know how to do this Annie, put your big girl panties on and act like you’re having a good time I thought and said “let’s go, I’m ready if you are” and we headed off together down the hallway. 

Everyone was there already and we all walked up to bingo.  When we got there, the activities person asked Sue if she wanted to call bingo.  She said she would but would have to check with the receptionist.  She called downstairs and got the go ahead.

We all got our cards and Sue started calling the numbers.  I could see that Sue was really enjoying it.  I was worrying about Stella when Clara whispered to be “are you okay?”

“Not really, before I came Julie called and told me Stella is in the hospital again with pneumonia.  I wasn’t going to come but when Sue came to get me I couldn’t turn her down.”

“I’m sorry to hear about Stella” and we went on playing.

As Sue and I were walking back, I handed her the candy I had won and said “Give these to the kids.  I really don’t need to be eating this.”

“They’ll love it.  Thanks, I really had a good time.”

“Me too, just drop me off at the door and you can go back to work.”

When we got to the doors Sue gave me a hug and left.

I went right to my room and soon after Clara came in.  “Did you hear” she asked.

“Hear, hear what?”

“While we were gone, Fred died.”

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” 

Kate told Nancy after breakfast he went and lay down and when they went to give him his medicine he was gone. 

“We had a good talk this morning.  He seemed okay to me.  He did desperately want to be with his wife though.”

“Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason, when it’s your time it’s your time.”

“I know your right.  In a way I guess I’m happy for him, now he’s with his Eloise.”

“When do you think you’ll hear something about Stella?”

“Julie said she’ll call me tonight.  You know that saying about death coming in three’s.  After Helen and now Fred, it really has me concerned.”

“Annie, now stop it.  That’s just a superstition.”

“Yeah your right” and I laughed.

“I’ll see you for supper.  I want to look through my stuff before Nancy comes tomorrow and see if there’s anything I need to get rid of.”

“Okay, let me know if you need any help” and Clara wheeled herself out the door.

I started to knit and I felt like I was on pins and needles looking at the clock every 10 minutes the whole time. 

When it was close to supper Clara came and asked “are you ready for supper?” 

“I think I’m going to eat in here in case Julie calls.  I’ll see you later when I know something.”

An aide brought my supper in and I could barely eat anything and then finally the phone rang “Julie?”

“Yes mom it’s me.  Stella’s going to be fine.  The IV antibiotics are already starting to work.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

“I guess she went into the hospital a couple of days ago.  Finally, she told the doctor to give me a call.  She was worried that you might call and you would be worried.”

“I told her you’ve been sick with the flu.  She said to tell you that is what you get for getting the flu shot so early” and Julie laughed.

“Well that really convinces me that she’s getting well” and I laughed along with Julie.

“How’s Sue been doing with the new job?”

“Just marvelous, she’s really good at it too.  Today she was the caller at bingo.”

“Hmmm, did you have anything to do with her getting the job?” 

“Me, you’ve got to be kidding.”

“I have a feeling something is going on and I’m not privy to it.”

“That’s just your imagination.  It’s so great about Stella now I can relax.  Well, I was in the middle of supper.”

“Okay mom.  I’ll talk to you later” and she hung up.

I went down the hall and caught Stella’s eye and gave her a thumbs up and went back to my room. 

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Mrs. Dunkin #39

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

39

Naturally, I got up way too early the next morning.  I hopped in the shower and went into the day-room.  No one was there yet.  I could see the aides going into the rooms to start getting people ready for the day.   As I was starting to go the table, I could hear muffled crying.  I walked down the other hall when I could hear it was coming from Fred’s room.  I peeked in and he was sitting in a chair.  I was trying to decide if I should go in or not when I heard “Hey, girlie.”

“Hello Fred, are you all right?”

“I miss my Eloise so much” and I walked into his room. 

I sat on the chair next to him and grabbed his hand and said “I’m so sorry Fred.  It is hard to lose a loved one” and he cried softly.

“I thought I could never live without her but the Good Lord had other plans for me.  She’s been gone 10 long years now and he still must not want me.”

“Oh there, there now, he must have a good reason for keeping you here.  It’ll be all right” and I got up and gave him a hug.

“You have a very nice room, Fred” trying to get his mind off things. 

“Thank you.”

“I love the oil lamp.”

“Yeah, I’m not allowed to keep oil in it, safety hazard they say.  That lamp was in my house when I was a kid; I’ve kept it all these years.”

“Why it’s a real antique then.”

“Yeah, just like me” and we both laughed.  “Thanks for stopping by, I have to get ready for breakfast.”

“Oh okay, I hope we’ll be seeing you in the day-room today.”

“I’ll be there” and I walked out the door.

I could see the ladies were all at the table already with Clara just coming down the hallway.  When she got to the table she said “Did I see you come out of Fred’s room” she said with a wink.

“Clara!  Yes it was me.  He’s was sad about his wife.  You know he really is a very nice guy.”

“I just bet he is” and we all laughed.

“How are you doing today Clara” Nancy asked.

“I’m fine.  It was lonely in the room.  I can’t wait until you come Nancy.”

“That’ll be in the morning.  Oh look, here come the trays.”

We started to eat when the activities director came up to the table and said “About 10 we’re going to be playing bingo.  Anyone interested?”

We all said “Yes.”

“Good, we don’t have much of a crowd this morning.  I wonder if everyone is getting tired of it.”

“Nah” Clara said.  “I think it’s probably the letdown after the holidays, you know how that can be.”

“You are probably right.  We’ll see you later ladies. Bye”

“That will be fun; I haven’t played it but that one time with you Clara.  Time just seems to have flown by since I’ve come here.”

“So Nancy did you tell your roommate about you leaving?  What did she say” Mildred asked.

“Nothing really, I don’t think she cared.  Apparently, she didn’t care for me either” and she laughed. 

“I wish Mildred and I could get a room in your wing.  I think if we tried though we might get split up.  They never have a whole room that needs two people.”

“It would be so fun if we could all be in the same wing” Clara said excitedly.

“I would love that.  We’ll have to work on that to see if we can make that happen.”

“It’s only wishful thinking Gladys” Audrey said.

“Sometimes wishes come true” and when no one was looking Gladys gave Annie a little wink.

Nancy said “Yeah, who would have ever thought Clara and I would end up together. It could happen”

“Yeah” everyone said with renewed hope even Audrey.

We all decided to go back to our room, use the bathrooms and meet back in the day-room.

I was just starting to leave when the phone rang.  “Mom” I heard Julie say.  “I wanted to let you know Stella’s back in the hospital.”

“She is?  What happened?”

“The pneumonia’s back.  Her doctor called me.  I’m going to be in the hospital this afternoon and I’ll check on her.  I’ll call you tonight and tell you what I found out.”

“Okay, dear.  Thanks for calling. Bye.”  I went and sat on the rocker. 

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