February 16, 2010
For my birthday, I headed down to the Soldiers Home with a stuffed tin of homemade dark and light chocolate truffles, and nothing more. I’ve been starting to feel like I’m taking more than I’m giving there lately—scheduling interviews and setting up cameras and scribbling on notebooks, but not really just listening and hanging out only for the sake of listening and hanging out.
Mike wasn’t in his room when I got there, but I ran into Gary in the hallway right away. I opened my tin of good tidings and offered him a truffle or two. He had conveniently just decided to diet and declined the calories, but offered something even sweeter in return.
"If you weren’t married, I’d give you a birthday kiss," he said.
"Oh, puh-lease," I told him. "Nobody else is going to kiss me. This could me my only shot."
I leaned down, possibly so my foot would fit more easily into my mouth.
"Which body part would you like?" I asked. I meant my hand or my cheek, but I realized it sounded like I could have meant anything (or everything). Gary just laughed, but I felt ridiculous, and very red in the face.
Gary wisely opted for a cheek.
"Well," I stammered. "I guess I’ll go find Mike." And then, as he so often does, Mike just appeared, coming down the hallway from a totally unexpected direction.
He did not decline my truffles, but he did insist on buying me a hot chocolate in the snack bar, and we passed out a few more candies on the way. Then we went into the Activity Center, where one of the Recreation coordinators was reading the newspaper aloud to a tableful of residents.
The truffles were a hit. David came in late, and had to sit farther away, so I motioned for him to come get one, and he took it back to his seat. David talks loudly, and when someone took him a cup of coffee, he told her very loudly to thank me for the candy. But of course, she didn’t need to. Everyone within 100 feet could hear him. I gave him a faraway thumbs-up.
I had to leave before long to pick my son up at school, but in just a couple of hours I felt as if I had reconnected in a somewhat more genuine way, without asking anyone for anything, and without an ulterior motive beyond the simple reconnection itself. I’m thinking the next time I go down, I’ll take birthday cake.
For my birthday, I headed down to the Soldiers Home with a stuffed tin of homemade dark and light chocolate truffles, and nothing more. I’ve been starting to feel like I’m taking more than I’m giving there lately—scheduling interviews and setting up cameras and scribbling on notebooks, but not really just listening and hanging out only for the sake of listening and hanging out.
Mike wasn’t in his room when I got there, but I ran into Gary in the hallway right away. I opened my tin of good tidings and offered him a truffle or two. He had conveniently just decided to diet and declined the calories, but offered something even sweeter in return.
"If you weren’t married, I’d give you a birthday kiss," he said.
"Oh, puh-lease," I told him. "Nobody else is going to kiss me. This could me my only shot."
I leaned down, possibly so my foot would fit more easily into my mouth.
"Which body part would you like?" I asked. I meant my hand or my cheek, but I realized it sounded like I could have meant anything (or everything). Gary just laughed, but I felt ridiculous, and very red in the face.
Gary wisely opted for a cheek.
"Well," I stammered. "I guess I’ll go find Mike." And then, as he so often does, Mike just appeared, coming down the hallway from a totally unexpected direction.
He did not decline my truffles, but he did insist on buying me a hot chocolate in the snack bar, and we passed out a few more candies on the way. Then we went into the Activity Center, where one of the Recreation coordinators was reading the newspaper aloud to a tableful of residents.
The truffles were a hit. David came in late, and had to sit farther away, so I motioned for him to come get one, and he took it back to his seat. David talks loudly, and when someone took him a cup of coffee, he told her very loudly to thank me for the candy. But of course, she didn’t need to. Everyone within 100 feet could hear him. I gave him a faraway thumbs-up.
I had to leave before long to pick my son up at school, but in just a couple of hours I felt as if I had reconnected in a somewhat more genuine way, without asking anyone for anything, and without an ulterior motive beyond the simple reconnection itself. I’m thinking the next time I go down, I’ll take birthday cake.
RSS Feed