23 June 2009

Meandering Thoughts

As I've hustled and bustled around today getting ready for a chocolate open house tonight, I've had several decent ideas for posts:
  • Heart-breaking memories over ice cream
  • Does insurance pay for anything?
  • Why can't I look like a 'woman within' size 14W?
  • Adorable things my child says/does
  • Busy month ahead!
Huh. Not only a decent sized list (for me) but also a crazy variety! I suppose the beginning is a good place to start.

Last night Maggie and I decided to walk to Dairy Queen after dinner. It really was a mutual decision. She said, "Walk. Walk." And I figured the only way I'd be motivated to go out in this mugginess was if there was ice cream waiting at the other end. Maggie is totally my daughter, so I knew she wouldn't complain when we got there either.

At the Dairy Queen was a woman who reminded me of the state my dear friend Sue was in shortly before she died. She was in a wheel chair and had the fuzzy baby-chick hair that defiintely had me thinking she was on chemo. At the neck of the shirt wrapped around her bony shoulders you could see a port or pain patch. Something very medicinal-looking, anyway. We walked in and she didn't smile, but she didn't look unhappy either. She just was. She and the friend she was with were just resting at the table with their ice creams in front of them. They weren't talking or eating, just sitting there. I smiled, but it totally tugged at my heart strings as I remembered the last couple times I saw Sue.

After Maggie and I got our ice cream, I heard the woman's soft voice. She said, "But it's so good!" She just couldn't eat her ice cream, as much as she wanted to. Her friend said they could put it in the freezer and she could eat more later. It was like she was sitting at Dairy Queen waiting for her desire for the ice cream to be stronger than the pain from whatever she was suffering from. It was so good she wanted to keep eating, but being as sick as she was, she didn't want to eat. I got choked up right there. Life's not fair when you can't even enjoy delicious ice cream on a hot day.

3 comments:

The Adventures of Grunty and Chubbs said...

Wow, what a story... My heart goes out to her. And to you for feeling her pain so deeply.

Sonja said...

ok this even made me cry

siteseer said...

Too bad Peanut couldn't get her to smile. I know she makes me smile. Can't wait to hear the story about "why can't I look like a 'woman within' size 14W. That sound interesting.