Creator: Jack F | Creator: Getty Images/iStockphoto
A Bumper Crop of Carrots
Two elderly ladies shared a room
in the hospital’s skilled nursing unit.
One was my eighty-five year old mother.
The other was her ninety-three year old,
quick-witted “roomie” with swollen feet.
Both were there for after-surgery therapy.
The oldest complained about everything,
especially the food and daily therapy.
“They treat ye like yer a little tiny kid.
Everthang ye do they jist applawwwwd,”
saying it like that to make it sound worse.
“An’ I don’t know what it is about carrots,
but they put ‘em on yer tray ever day.
They musta had a bumper crop this year.”
On this particular day, while I was visiting,
trays were brought in with the evening meal.
Mother’s “roomie” discovered
that her daily portion of carrots was missing.
She asked my mother, “Did you git any?”
Mother told her, "No, I don't have any."
Right away the old lady sat up on the side
of her bed and lowered her bare, swollen
feet to that cold, skilled nursing unit floor.
Then she picked up the phone to call her
granddaughter with whom she lived.
Once the granddaughter answered,
her grandmother said, “Honey, I won’t ye ta
brang me some carrots down hyear quick.
They didn’t brang me any—not nary a one.”
And so, Mother and I were entertained
the entire time I was there for a visit.
But I'd say Mother was entertained
the entire time she was in skilled nursing.
©️Copyright 2022 By David Lee Thompson
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Also, I wanted to tell you, I followed your directions and finally wrote a Christmas poem (The Baby Who Loved Everybody") Not sure of what direction it was taking. When I got to the last verse, it was like the Lord just would not let me write a light ending to it. He wanted the Gospel for all to see! Happy Birthday, Jesus! May all the world see and believe that He came to save sinners! Thanks for giving me a push when I needed it!
When my grandmother was in a nursing hospital with Alzheimer's, her roommate was either 97 or 98. When she learned of her son or daughter's death, she put her clothes on, left the hospital in north central Wisconsin and took the bus to the funeral in Indiana, a trip of over 300 miles. When the funeral was over, she returned. That is gumption if I ever heard of it!
I have carrots every day, raw, at lunch. But I noticed when they are cooked that they seem to be all sugar like a sugar beet or sweet potato. And, as I chop away on them with my aging teeth, bits and pieces tend to get stuck. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm getting too much sugar by eating them raw? I also wonder if they contain beta-carotene. It's in the name. My eyes are still played good, too. Could it be carrots?
Ron
I love the photo of those fresh carrots…straight from the ground…delicious…!
Diana…🍃