Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Miss Opal's Sweetheart

This morning at the nursing home I had the pleasure of meeting another Miss Opal (not the same one from last week). She wanted to go for a walk and just needs a little help staying steady, so Judy (the social services director) asked me to walk with her down the hall and then take her down to lunch. We walked out the door and Judy suggested we go partway up a different hallway before heading down to the dining room.

Miss Opal: "Why are we going this way?"
Judy: "So you can get some exercise!"
Miss Opal: "Well."

That probably makes it sound like she was annoyed--but she wasn't at all. She just thought it was funny to walk in the opposite direction of the dining room. She is the most pleasant lady, full of smiles and greets everyone she meets with a bright "Hello, hello, hello!" Anyway, her back got tired after we walked up the other hallway, so we stopped back at her room to rest--where she showed me pictures of her family. But she couldn't remember who was pictured in the photo above her bed. So when Judy came back, the exchange went something like this:

Judy: "Are you having trouble remembering who that is? That's you and Mr. Pomeroy. He lives here, remember? You know, he's sweet on you." (winks at me)
Miss Opal: (a little embarrassed) "Lord, have mercy."

From this exchange it almost seemed like Miss Opal didn't know what Judy was talking about. But I was mistaken. We head down to the dining room, and the best part was this exchange once we rounded the corner and saw Mr. Pomeroy sitting in an armchair:

Miss Opal: (to me) "Bless his heart, he's sitting there waiting for me."
Mr. Pomeroy: "Hi, sweetheart!"
Miss Opal: "Hello, darling. I'll be right over in a bit. I love you!"

Now how can that not just bring a smile to your face? Romance is alive and well at the nursing home...

2 comments:

Beau and Kathryn said...

So sweet! Thanks for sharing that. It made my day! I'm so glad that you've found something you enjoy and that you're good at. I'm sure you're learning a lot as well. Old people are so great!

Amy said...

well, I'm not sure I would call volunteering in a nursing home my niche. I don't particularly feel that I've "found something I enjoy and that I'm good at." I mean, I don't DISlike it, and what I'm doing isn't hard. But it's stretching me that's for sure.

Thinking about this little nursing home romance still makes me smile though :)