A Funny Thing

Visiting with Great Nana in 2008. She herself was a little confused.

 The other day I was electronically discussing the speed of the internet with a friend when they said, and I'll paraphrase, "It was wicked slow." Yup so slow it was frustrating to the nth degree and they had to remember all the good things in their life in order to let go of their frustrations.

Being the lucky caregiver for two senior citizens who both experience the confusion of short term memory lose my mornings are filled with repeated light questions regarding age, religion, anything Italian, the weather, Dean Martin and Benny Goodman. Easy peasey. No worries. Today was different. Today we had a clogged kitchen sink versus the lovely client who wants to help and will wash dishes till the cows come home. Literally.


"Sorry my friend, the sink is clogged. We can't wash dishes until maintenance fixes it. Why don't you sit down and relax. Listen to the music."

"OK."

This scenario repeated three more times. And each time I had to dash from the bedroom, where I was helping my other client, to the kitchen to deliver my gentle message. On the third time, as I turned to make the mad run to halt the kitchen flood, I uttered, "He's going to be the death of me." And then I stopped dead in my tracks.  Remembering my previous electronic conversation regarding slow internet connections. And really remembering to focus in on all the good I share with my clients in order to bypass this frustration.

The shift continued with my client folding the laundry, while I quietly washed the dishes then bailed out the sink into a bucket. Better yet, the shift ended with us all singing along with Dean Martin, big smiles and laughter.

I'm always amazed when life's lessons carry over into... life.