The other weekend I went to lil' ol' Rita's house to fulfill my lawn mowing duties. I could probably have an entirely separate blog about my friendship with Rita. She is an 80 something year old woman who lives in a substantially sized house with her husband, Chet. Chet was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago and life is getting pretty hard for Rita.
Alzheimer's is one of the most incomprehensibly sad things I've ever thought about.
One of Rita's friends from church offered to employ me as Rita's $25/cut lawn mower boy at the beginning of the summer. Since Rita was trying to sell her house over the summer (so as to reduce her work load by moving into a condomininium) Kathleen has been paying me to keep Rita's property looking KICKASS. Super nice I know.
Rita is the bomb. Everytime I go over to work we have a nice long conversation... catching up on each other's lives. I don't really talk to Chet much. I hate Alzheimer's. Luckily I'm able to work our limited conversations pretty well since I have some experience with my grandfather.
ANYWAYS THE OTHER WEEKEND I knocked on the door and Rita's face lit up when she saw me and excitedly led me into the living room where she held up a scarf, mittens and a hat that she had knitted for me. It was such an incredibly pleasant surprise I didn't really know what to say. I tried them all on and Rita called Chet to come down and see. Moved down the stairs, eyes on each step until he noticed me in the treshold of the door way with the grey hat passed my ears. "What do you think, Chet?" Rita asked.
A look of almost wonder spread across his face and choosing words from his limited vocabulary he said, "It's-it's beautiful!"
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alzheimer's sucks.
ReplyDeletei volunteer at a nursing home every saturday morning. in one wing (its called birch) most of the residents spend their days sleeping, being shouted directions at, and having crushed pills shoved down their throats.
Their eyes are empty and most of the time they mumble things incomprehensible, but if you happen to catch eyes with them and smile, their eyes brighten and the returning smile is the most genuine thing i've ever seen.