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A group of kids who looked like they were in kindergarten
walked in and when they saw us dressed up they started giggling. One little boy shouted “Hey, they have costumes
too!”
As each child would come up to us they smiled and said
trick or treat and they would guess what we were. They would hold out their bag and we put
candy in it. Some of them got a real
kick out of the fact that we had the same costumes as them and gave us
hugs.
It was wonderful but ended all too quick. We all decided to keep our costumes on until
after lunch. We all sat around and
chatted about how much fun we had.
“Well, now that Halloween’s done before you know it will
be Thanksgiving and then Christmas” Audrey said.
“Yes, in about a week they will start putting up the
Christmas trees” Gladys said.
“They will? Isn’t
it kind of early for that?”
“Annie, they will put up the trees and put the lights on
them. They don’t decorate them until
Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t know
exactly how many trees they put up but I know they are in each day-room and
family room plus who knows where else” Clara told me.
“I could see that that would take a lot of time to
do. Do they let the residents help?”
“I’ve never seen them helping but I suppose we could
ask. Maybe we should talk to the club
ladies about it?”
“Again with the club ladies Nancy, forget about the club
ladies. We can ask questions on our own
you know?”
“All righty then, you really still hold a grudge against
them don’t you” Nancy said.
“I guess you could say that. Here come our trays let’s eat” and we all sat
quietly and ate our food. I wondered why
Clara seemed to have such resentment for the club ladies.
When we were done we all went back to our rooms to get
out of our costumes. I went to the
bathroom and took off my head scarf and some of the heavy make-up I had put
on. I took off most of the necklaces off
but kept one on. I decided to keep my
clothes on since without the scarf it looked like a normal outfit.
I decided to knit a little and picked it up and sat on
the rocker. I could hear no more
creaking as I rocked while I knitted. I
should have had someone fix it a long time ago.
I thought about what a fun morning we had and wished for a moment that I
was at home so I could be handing out candy tonight. It would be the first time since we bought
the house that no one would be giving candy from there. I bet the children in the neighborhood would
wonder where I was.
The phone started to ring and I dropped my knitting and
picked it up “Hello?”
“Hi mom, it’s me.”
“Hi Julie, how are you?”
“I’m calling with some bad news.”
“Stella” I asked.
“Yes, she had a stroke last night. They are still assessing her but right now
she has slurred speech and she can move her legs but her one arm seems to be
paralyzed.”
“Oh no, I want to see her now.”
“I knew you would mom but why don’t you wait until she
gets a little better.”
“Okay, if you think that’s best. Would you tell her I love her and I’ll see
her soon?”
“You know I will mom.
I’ve got to go, I’m at the hospital and I have to speak to one of my
patients parents. I love you mom. Bye”
“Bye Julie.”
I put down the phone and started to cry. Just then Clara came in the room “Annie did
something happen?”
“Yes, my friend Stella was in the hospital with pneumonia
and I just found out she had a stroke.
I’m very worried about her.”
“Oh there, there we’ll keep her in our prayers. We’ll hope for the best.” Clara said as she
patted me on the shoulder. “Do you want
to talk or would you rather be alone?”
“I think I’m going to get under the covers for a
while. I feel so cold. Could you tell Kate I won’t be having supper
today?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay, see you later.”
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