Coveting at the Convent
27 Sep 2009 1 Comment
in Scranton
Mini Red and I were off to Scranton this past weekend to visit Aunt Dot. This year has been so crazy that we were unable to visit in the Spring so this was our first trip of the year.
It’s not easy to go on these visits. The drive is long but beautiful and we love Aunt Dot but she is almost 97 and can’t walk anymore, which has taken a toll on her especially mentally.
These women that live at this residence have given of themselves for most of their lives and I don’t think any of them are under 80 years old. At this point in their lives the little bit that they have is very important to them. What is even more important is to show off their families and what their families have done for them. For example last year I brought Aunt Dot a HUGE remote control for her TV. She loved showing it off and everyone wanted one. I try to do something special for Aunt Dot since Mini Red and I are her only family whereas most of the Sisters have a lot of family, often local, that come for visits.
This visit I knew would be tough since last week had been a rough week at work. It was a little more difficult than I had expected since Aunt Dot’s mind has deteriorated a lot more since the last visit. The first problem was a mix up in the days. She though we were coming Friday and the entire convent became aware of this situation as she refused to eat dinner Friday determined to wait for us. I felt so bad but Aunt Dot and I speak every day and every day I would remind her that it was Saturday the 26th that we were coming.
On this visit I can’t tell you how often she repeated herself and asked me the same question over and over. I tried giving different answers to see if one would satisfy her but it seemed to be a crap shoot. I felt like I was in the movie “Groundhog Day”. I also got yelled at a lot because she would tell me I was doing something wrong but really I wasn’t. It was almost comical but soon became tiring.
Then there were the chocolates. She has me bring three boxes of chocolates to give as a thank you with my thank you card. One goes to the head nuns, another to the staff at the residence and the last one to the Sisters on her floor. The last box she had me open because she wanted to count the chocolates in the box and divide them up to make sure each Sister got one. So I opened the box and she counted them by touching each of them. Then she ate one!!! She counted again by touching each one of them. I sat there just watching her and by the fifth time I had to turn away because it was making me crazy. We then went to the dining area on her floor which consists of two tables and seating for four at each table. She brought the chocolates and at the table she counted again then separated some out into the box top, hands all over each. She instructed Mini Red to deliver the box top of chocolates to the other table. It was tiring as she had us pass the chocolates around our own table. I wasn’t about to have one and the other Sister at our table is diabetic so she was limited as to how many she could have.
Then there was the cookie coveting issue. Our table had cookies and the other table had slices of pie. At our table we each took a cookie and then the Sisters at the other table got wind of it and wanted cookies. I asked Mini Red to take the plate of cookies over to them but Aunt Dot said, “No! They have their own!” I explained that they didn’t and she wasn’t having it. She grabbed the plate of cookies as we could hear the other Sisters whispering deciding who would go get the cookies from our table. Mini Red and I stayed out of it as Aunt Dot got hold of the plate of cookies. She rearranged the plate by touching each one and finally taking one and putting it on her plate. The Sister that was sent over seemed scared of Aunt Dot but the taller Sister wasn’t scared, she came over and picked up the plate and brought it to her table for the other Sisters. In the end Aunt Dot didn’t even eat the cookie she had put on her plate.
I know she has lived a long tough life giving of herself so Mini Red and I try to give back to her but I tell ya… It isn’t easy.
We are so glad to be home.
A little Prayer never hurt
12 Nov 2007 2 Comments
I used to work with this dude, G-Man. At first I thought he was a creep. He likes the ladies, which is obvious, but I got to know him and found we could talk quite candidly. I also learned how in love he is with his wife. She is his second wife and quite a bit younger than he. She wanted to have a baby with him but he had had a vasectomy after his first marriage and two kids that are now grown. I think he was hesitant due to having already raised kids but he loves this woman enough to go through a lot to create a child that is part of each of them.
First he went through surgery to have his vasectomy reversed. He was told it would take a year before his soldiers would be active again. They then found that there was an easier way. They could extract active soldiers, somehow, and he didn’t need to have that surgery. The costs for in-vitro are astronomical so they got into a program where they would donate eggs to reduce their costs. You can’t beat that and helping others is an added bonus.
They had tried to plant, or whatever you call it, the fertilized eggs several times. G-Man told me they had just gone in again to plant more eggs and he didn’t know how much more of this they could do. I called Aunt Dot, who you might recall has been a nun for over 70 years. I told her about G-Man and his wife and asked her to put their names in The Book. The Book is a book that sits outside the chapel where Aunt Dot lives and special intentions are written in there and all the Sisters in the community pray for these special intentions. After two weeks of putting their names in the book G-Man and his wife found out they were pregnant. Wahoo!
Nine months (or so) later G-Man’s wife gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. There were problems, their weight was low and jaundice to name a few. The doctors were positive the kids would get over this hump but G-Man and his wife were worried. So I got a call from G-Man while in the hospital and he asked me to call Aunt Dot right away and put the kids’ names in the book to have the Sisters pray for them. He was sure this would help because he was convinced Aunt Dot and the Sisters prayers helped them finally conceive. The kids did get over that tough time and three years later they are thriving.
This past weekend Mini Red and I took a trip up to Scranton to See Aunt Dot. We hadn’t been up there since April so it was time. It will be a year since the stroke on November 24th and she will be turning 95 on November 28th. She has gotten much better but there is an issue with her knee and they won’t operate. This means she won’t be walking again and this frustrates her but I think she has accepted it and is trying to remain positive.
We took her gifts and it’s nice to have her not fight me on that anymore but she is sure to find something else to fight with me about. One of the things we took her was a HUGE remote. The one she had was small and was a pain to operate. I loved watching her with this huge thing, she loved just switching channels. At first she would hit the numbers and she would hit the same numbers over and over. Then it was by the up and down arrows. Next she would mess with the volume and I think I may have lost some of my hearing after that. She loved it and was sure to show anyone who passed her room. The last visit all she did was introduce us to everyone but this time all she just talked about was this remote but she did brag that it’s a gift from her visiting nieces.
We also brought her two more plants, an Amaryllis and a Christmas Cactus. She loves plants and especially ones that bloom. These haven’t bloomed yet but when they do it should happen as the excitement from the remote dies down.
By Saturday evening Aunt Dot and I were ready to part ways for the day. During the day I had been running blocker for Mini Red to escape now and again. She would go to our room down the hall and lay down and watch a TV show she wanted to see. She was such a good girl and even played her violin for the Sisters. But Saturday had been a long day and a lot of events for Aunt Dot. I was bored and beat tired and she was worn out. This was evident when we both became a bit snappy. We parted ways to get some rest and meet up in the morning.
Mini Red and I wanted to leave as early as possible but we stayed for Mass but not lunch. They all tried to lay the guilt trip on us but we weren’t having it. It was a beautiful Fall day which made the drive home absolutely beautiful. I’ve said it before and I will say it again but I do love driving on Route 81.
During our visit I had a list of people to put in The Book. If you are a praying kind of person then throw these special intentions in your prayers too. If you need some special prayers then let me know and I’ll be sure to pass it along to Aunt Dot.
The visit was a success and I’m sure I’ll hear about it from Aunt Dot for at least the next few weeks. Mini Red and I definitely have had our fill of the convent for a while.
