| . |
Chapter Four
Mom's Keeper
"I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the
weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed
to give than to receive."
~ Acts 20:35 ~
 warm
Friday morning sun shone through the large pane window of Room 2 of the Mullen-Overholt
Nursing Home.
"Time to wake up, girl!" announced a loud voice. Mrs. Ruth Clark blinked
open her eyes. Leticia Ross, a young black woman, was standing above her, impatient
to get the routines of the morning over with as soon as possible. She hastily put
on a pair of white latex gloves and rolled Ruth onto her side. After the dirty adult
diaper was disposed of, Leticia cleaned the patient. She grabbed for something, and
upon finding that there were none left, shouted, "More diapers in Room 2!"
Carla Hernandez walked into the room, shaking her head. Both women were certified
nursing assistants, but Carla had many years of experience compared to Leticia.
"I thought you counted them this time," she remarked, handing Leticia a
diaper.
"Madeline was stubborn this morning," complained Leticia.
"You can draw more flies with honey," advised Carla.
"The way this place smells, you don't need no honey," mocked the young
woman.
"It wouldn't smell so bad if you did your job quicker," retorted Carla,
disappearing from the door. Leticia jerked on Ruth's sweater, not realizing that
she was hurting the sixty-nine year old woman.
"Thinks she knows everything," muttered Leticia. Ruth patiently waited
as her white hair was combed, her glasses cleaned, her dentures washed and put into
place. She was hungry. The other four women who occupied Room 2 had already been
wheeled into the dining room for breakfast. Since Ruth was bedridden, she had to
eat all her meals in bed. She fixed her eyes on the door, waiting for a certain loved
one to appear. Leticia set her breakfast tray on Ruth's bed table. Without a word,
the young woman left, leaving Mrs. Ruth Clark alone with her breakfast. Ruth sighed.
Leticia Ross was twenty-six years old, and the single mother of two small boys, Theodore
and Ernest. Ruth tried to remember this when Leticia's impatient attitude was at
it's worst.
"For this cause I, since the day I heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and
to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding," prayed Ruth, bowing her head. When she opened her
eyes, a middle aged man was smiling over her.
"Starting breakfast without me, Mom?" he asked, picking up a chair near
the window and placing it beside her bed.
"Good morning, Adam," greeted Ruth, as she kissed her son's cheek when
he bent over to give his Mom a hug.
"How did you sleep?" asked Adam, picking up the spoon on the table and
filling it with food. "Open," he said, guiding it to her mouth.
"I've had better nights," she confessed, "but I'm not complaining."
Ruth opened her mouth and swallowed the spoonful of oatmeal. An involuntary twinge
of nausea crossed her face. After seeing his mother's reaction, Adam tasted the oatmeal.
He quickly spit it back into the bowl.
Unbeknownst to Adam and his mother, Nancy Cortez, the morning cook, had been up the
whole night with Teresa, her five year old daughter. The little girl, who was always
coming down with one thing or another, had given her mother a sleepless night by
means of a high fever. For this reason, Nancy had mistakenly over-salted the oatmeal,
making it bitter and inedible. In fact, salt was not supposed to be served at all,
for most of the residents at Mullen-Overholt were on low sodium diets. By the time
she had realized the mistake, it was too late.
|