My house cleaner, Leticia, comes every other Saturday morning and stays for a few hours. Dennis and I take this opportunity to go out for breakfast and do one or two errands. We could do more, but I firmly stand by my rule of no more than eight wheelchair transfers in one day.
I seldom read the paper, and when I do, it’s usually the variety section and maybe I will read a comic strip, or two. I simply do not care to read about everything that is going wrong in the world. I even dislike the paper more right now, because of politics. After all, I made up my mind a long time ago about who gets all of my votes this November.
By now you know that Dennis is a s-l-o-w eater. He is also a big eater, when he can eat. I am not a big breakfast eater and matter how hard I try to slow down, I am still done way before him. This means a very long time in the restaurant to sit and watch Dennis eat. Thus, the newspaper gets read from front to back simply to maintain my sanity. Thankfully, the Saturday paper is more entertainment than news, and the fluffy stuff is easy to forget, minutes after you have finished reading.
Okay, so enough about me.
As Dennis eats slowly, he also spills and splatters and makes a big, old mess. Occasionally, I lean over with a wet napkin and wipe his face off. All in all, we have worked out a simple system to keep Dennis from looking like a complete mess when he eats.
Yesterday, Dennis ordered a blueberry muffin to go along with his corned beef and hash, hash browns, and two eggs. An hour and a half later, he was done, the bill way paid and I pulled his chair out from the table. In his lap, was half of a blueberry muffin, the paper from the muffin, and a few odd and ends bit of hash browns.
The newspaper, which kept me from crawling the walls while he ate, now served a second purpose. I laid the paper on his lap and wheeled him casually out of the restaurant. When he stood up to get in the car, he left a very nice breakfast for a few of the local squirrels and birds on the ground. Very generous of him, don’t you think?
Until Tomorrow,
Ann and Dennis
Living with Shy-Drager, Multiple System Atrophy and Sweet Saturday Mornings
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