The Ladies of LaDora

Evidently Papa didn't have a whole lot to say...I opened the blog to see it has been well over a year since my last posting. Life has been complicated...complicated but not bad. Each day brings its own surprises and blessings from the Lord. Don't get me started on my new granddaughter, Charlee. What a joy she is to me. My dad is gone now. His last year was hard on him and his family. He was so tired of sitting without activity, tired of struggling for each breath. Now he is resting in Paradise waiting for the day we will all join together in that awesome walk through the gates of Heaven. .....wow, that was heavy stuff from a blog intended for humor.


Speaking of humor, that last sentence originally read ".....blog intended for humo". I don't know what humo is but I will try to find out before my next posting a year or two from now. My little personal notebook computer is beginning to show its age. I have to really concentrate to include "r" in my writing. This key has taken early retirement and has to be coaxed to participate. The computer also has a tendency to wander on its own while I'm working. One minute I will be on a spreadsheet creating very important data, such as how many steps I have to take to burn off the double dip sundae I ate at Braum's earlier today....the next minute the screen flashes to obscure stuff I don't recognize or understand. Basically the computer has begun to act just like my brain in my "golden" years.


I guess I should get around to what I was originally going to write when I opened this page. I stopped by LaDora to see my mom after I got off work yesterday. She and the girls had already gathered at the popular table to laugh at the old men, drink coffee, and wait for dinner to be served. After my dad died it took my mom nearly two weeks before she ventured down to the cafeteria alone. When she did she sat down at their table and felt so totally alone. A precious soul named Sue came over to her and suggested she not sit at that table anymore. Sue invited her to come with her and they would create a new table for the two of them. It didn't take long before another resident joined them and they began to tell old tales and create new bonds of friendship. The table has become "the cool table". It has grown to a group of six with several more waiting for an opening. I love these old ladies and I have to admit, they are crazy about me. I make them laugh. One of them even asked me to come more often and stay for dinner once in a while. Well, last night's visit was a little different. When I arrived and pulled up a chair there was no talk. No smiling faces. There was a cold iciness the likes of which I experienced often during my career when meeting with contractors who were unhappy with me for some reason....what did I do? How did I make these sweet ladies mad at me? As I looked around the table I noticed a new face...and not a friendly one! Someone had taken it on herself to commandeer one of the sought after six seats at the cool table. The other ladies were upset because one of the golden girls had been pushed out and this rebel was taking over. I tried to get a conversation going...told some of my best, enduring lies about growing up with my mom playing the role of "mom". I didn't get so much as a smile. Before I could address the problem, some poor old guy rolled into the room and asked the rebel to please move her wheelchair forward an inch or two so he could get past. The rebel's head swiveled 180 degrees as she stared the poor old guy down. She told him loudly, and with words seldom heard publicly, to get away from her and leave her alone. The spell was broken. The golden girls had had enough. They tore into the rebel with a vengeance I did not know existed in a nursing home. My mom and I sat slack-jawed and silent as this verbal abuse accelerated. In a stupid, STUPID reaction I asked the ladies to calm down. I was told in several ways and decibels  to mind my own business. After a few minutes I decided it best to do what any rational person would do.....I patted my mom on the shoulder and whispered, "see ya tomorrow"....then I took off as fast as my bum leg and cane would go. I admit, I did feel a little guilty about leaving my mom in the middle of a brawl so I turned around to get her and take her to her room. When I turned I saw she had backed her wheelchair away from the table and was watching with a big grin on her face. She was enjoying the show. It may be a few days before I visit the ladies at LaDora again.