by Donna Poole
“Hey, are you awake?”
Huge sigh. “I am now. What do you want? And why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I can’t sleep. You know prednisone does that to me. So, I’m counting my blessings. Like the song goes, ‘I count my blessings, instead of sheep…’”
“Please! Stop singing! It’s bad enough listening to you sing in the shower in the mornings. I really can’t now. I have a headache.”
“Sorry! I know my voice isn’t the best. It begins as a lovely melody in my heart though.”
“Yeah? Well, it sure gets mugged somewhere before it comes out of your mouth.”
“You’re a bit grumpy tonight, aren’t you?”
“For Pete’s sake; I’m not grumpy. I want to sleep! And it’s not night, it’s morning. In three hours you’ll be singing in the shower, and I’d like to get a little shut eye before then!”
“I’m sorry I woke you. I was thinking about all the good things that happened in the hospital the past three days, and I wanted to share them with someone. Go back to sleep. I’ll just talk to God.”
“Oh, go ahead and keep talking. I’m wide awake now anyway. But blessings? How about when we had to wait all that time in the hallway for a room to open up? You were so cold you put on your winter jacket and pulled the hood up!”
“True, but then I felt cozy, and the padded bench was comfortable. I was tired from getting up extra early to get to Ann Arbor on time, and I had a good nap sitting on that bench. And then we got the call the room was ready, and they said for sure my husband could stay with me. That about made me cry; I was so happy.”
“Everything makes you cry when you’re happy. How about when the parking garage was full and you had to get out at the door by yourself and find your own way to your room in that big hospital, you and your cane and your horrible sense of direction, with no arm to lean on and no one to help you?”
“Well, that was a blessing too! Everyone was helpful. The first lady sent me to the second lady. She called to be sure my room was ready, and it was.”
“‘I hope you can give me simple directions,’ I told her, ‘because I hold the world’s record for getting lost.’”
“She laughed. ‘It’s easy. Go past that big blow-up Superman, and you’ll come to the elevators. Go to floor eight, and you’ll see a desk. They’ll give you more directions from there.’”
“I found the desk, memorized my room, number six, and I only had to go back once and ask her to repeat the directions. Then off I went, feeling like a little girl setting off alone for the first day of kindergarten, proud to be on my own.”
“Get real! Kindergarten at age seventy-five? And you were only on your own for a few minutes.”
“Let me finish, okay? I found the right hallway and room number six. I stopped in front of it and read a sign that said something like ‘sanitized linens.’ The nurse’s desk was right behind me.”
“I said, ‘Hi, I’m Donna Poole, and I have room six, but I don’t think that’s it?’”
“She laughed. ‘No, that’s definitely not it. Keep going down that hall a bit and you’ll come to your room.’”
“A man coming toward me saw my confusion. ‘You’ll see your name on your room. Tell you what, I’ll take you there!’”
“And he did! Now isn’t that a blessing? And that room! It was impressive! It had a mini fridge, a love seat that opened up into a bed, and a recliner. The hospital bed was even more comfortable than my bed at home!”
“I heard you tell the doctor that. She laughed and said it was the first time she’d ever heard anyone say that!”
“I put the quilt my friend Missy had stayed up all night making for me before I’d gone into the hospital the last time on my bed. Everyone who came into the room loved it.”
“I suppose you’ll rave about the bathroom next.”
“Well, it was nice. Big and very clean.”
“Oh yeah? How’d you like having to measure and record your pee?”
“Do you always have to be so negative? I’m trying to focus on the blessings. The food was good!”
“It must have been. I heard you say you’d gained a few pounds you didn’t need while you were there.”
“Oh, come on. It was almost like being on a vacation. I met so many nice people, and we shared stories….”
“That’s another thing. What’s with you and sharing stories? It happens everywhere you go.”
“Sharing stories is a way to connect. It’s how we let other people know they aren’t alone in the world.”
“So that’s why you gave that girl who was cleaning your contact information when she told you about her sad family situation and her lack of friendships?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why. I listened to her. It might have been the first time in a long time someone cared enough to listen to her story. And I told her I didn’t want her to ever feel alone, so she could get ahold of me if she had a problem, or a prayer request, or just wanted someone to talk to. Wouldn’t you have done the same?”
“I can honestly say I’ve never done that and never will, and sometimes I think you’re an idiot. I suppose you think the side effects from your cancer treatment, the shivering, the horrible muscle and bone aches, the burning eyes, the unbearable neck pain, and the headache from h…”
“Hold on. We don’t use that word.”
“Okay, okay! So, I suppose you think the headache from…Stygian was a blessing too?”
“Stygian?”
“Look it up.”
“I will sometime. The side effects weren’t fun, but you have to admit the fast help I got from the nurse and the doctor were blessings. They didn’t even mind being disturbed at two o’clock in the morning.”
“Look, Miss Pollyanna, that’s what they get paid to do. They were just doing their job.”
“No, they did more than that. They did it with compassion and cheerfulness. They could have been grumpy, like some others I know!”
“You’re talking about me, aren’t you? I am what I am. We’re different, but we’ve come a long way together, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we have, and don’t think I don’t appreciate you because I do! Do you want to hear more blessings?”
“I’m probably going to hear them whether I want to or not. But can you cut this short? I have a feeling you could write a book about your hospital stay, and I’m not in the mood to hear it!”
“Well, you know how I love that verse from the book of Esther in the Bible that says maybe she was exactly where she was ‘for such a time as this?’”
“Must we go there again? You’re always thinking you’re right where you are ‘for such a time as this.’ It’s ridiculous. Don’t you realize things might happen by chance?”
“Nope. It’s Providence! Things happen by design! I think the best blessing was getting to meet the woman I’d been talking to online. You know, the one whose husband is so sick with a rare kind of lymphoma, sicker than I’ve ever been. If not Providence, how else do you explain that we were both in the hospital at the same time and only two doors apart?”
“I don’t know.”
“God did it, that’s what. And it gave me a chance to share one of my books and a little love and encouragement. And she encouraged me too. I really was there ‘for such a time as this.’”
“Whatever.”
“And even though the side effects weren’t fun, I didn’t get CRS like last time, and I got to come home on Friday. God brought us safely home through blowing snow and drifting roads, and Kimmee and Drew fixed us two kinds of delicious soup and yummy cupcakes. Then it was time to crawl into our cozy bed. Coming home was a little glimpse of what heaven will be like, don’t you think?”
“That trip shook me up, going and coming. I’m even greener that usual and look at all my white bubbles and froth. I don’t believe heaven is in my future. Why are you laughing?”
“I’m laughing at myself. I can’t believe I’m having a middle of the night imaginary conversation with a bottle of green mouthwash. I’m going back to bed now, but thanks for coming to the hospital with me. You were a lifesaver. Everyone who got close to me probably appreciated you too! See you in a few hours. Sorry you have to listen to me sing in the shower!”
“I’m sorry too! If I only had money and hands, I’d pay someone to give you singing lessons!”
The end
***
These blogs are now available in book form on Amazon:
Backroad Ramblings Volume One: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter
Backroad Ramblings Volume Two: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter
Backroad Ramblings Volume Three: Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter
I have six other books on Amazon as well, four fiction books in the “Life at the Corners” series, and two children’s Christmas picture books.
Please follow me on Facebook at Donna Poole, author
