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Status: They're ba-ack! ;)
Love Among the Coffee Beans
Shayla: The Secret Garden
“Hey, Gran,” I say softly, inching towards her bed.
She’s looking out the window in the butter yellow hospital room, lost in the sky, I suppose. I guess it’s nice to look at something that you can remember. When you have strangers visiting you most every day, it must be a load off to just look at something that’s familiar and you know somewhere inside that you won’t forget it.
“Gran?”
My grandmother looks towards me, and yet right through me with her watery blue eyes. “Hello,” she says.
“Hi.”
Sometimes I think that I should stop coming here because it might be easier for the both of us. It hurts to have one of the people you look up to most, a most beloved person, forget you completely. And it must also be tough for her to see these people coming by who she figures she must know from somewhere, but can’t seem to remember where.
“How are you?” I ask her, inching towards her spotless bed where she lays withered and white among the ivory sheets.
Gran’s eyes look far away and she doesn’t answer, just looks out the window again.
I sigh soft enough so she doesn’t hear and settle myself down in the straight-backed chair next to her.
Gran looks over to me a little suddenly and studies me carefully. “Are you Margery’s daughter?” she asks.
I smile. Nod. Margery is my grandmother’s sister. She died a few years ago from heart failure. She didn’t have any children.
“Is she coming to see me soon?” she asks.
I keep a smile on my face for her and nod again even though my throat is twisting, a knot forcing its way up to my mouth.
Gran smiles at me. “Good, good…” And then she lays her head back into her pillow and closes her eyes.
I rub the back of my hand over my watering eyes and take a book out of my tote bag that I brought with me.
“You going to read to me?” Gran asks, eyes still shut.
I nod, then remember she can’t see. “Yes.”
“Good, good… Thank you, Margery.”
My throat constricts once more and I blink hard against the tears.
“Thank you.”
I fold my legs underneath me and open The Secret Garden to page 52, where we left off last time and start in.
Gran smiles.
She’s looking out the window in the butter yellow hospital room, lost in the sky, I suppose. I guess it’s nice to look at something that you can remember. When you have strangers visiting you most every day, it must be a load off to just look at something that’s familiar and you know somewhere inside that you won’t forget it.
“Gran?”
My grandmother looks towards me, and yet right through me with her watery blue eyes. “Hello,” she says.
“Hi.”
Sometimes I think that I should stop coming here because it might be easier for the both of us. It hurts to have one of the people you look up to most, a most beloved person, forget you completely. And it must also be tough for her to see these people coming by who she figures she must know from somewhere, but can’t seem to remember where.
“How are you?” I ask her, inching towards her spotless bed where she lays withered and white among the ivory sheets.
Gran’s eyes look far away and she doesn’t answer, just looks out the window again.
I sigh soft enough so she doesn’t hear and settle myself down in the straight-backed chair next to her.
Gran looks over to me a little suddenly and studies me carefully. “Are you Margery’s daughter?” she asks.
I smile. Nod. Margery is my grandmother’s sister. She died a few years ago from heart failure. She didn’t have any children.
“Is she coming to see me soon?” she asks.
I keep a smile on my face for her and nod again even though my throat is twisting, a knot forcing its way up to my mouth.
Gran smiles at me. “Good, good…” And then she lays her head back into her pillow and closes her eyes.
I rub the back of my hand over my watering eyes and take a book out of my tote bag that I brought with me.
“You going to read to me?” Gran asks, eyes still shut.
I nod, then remember she can’t see. “Yes.”
“Good, good… Thank you, Margery.”
My throat constricts once more and I blink hard against the tears.
“Thank you.”
I fold my legs underneath me and open The Secret Garden to page 52, where we left off last time and start in.
Gran smiles.