....but food for thought.
Yesterday I met a lady while visiting Julia and Dee. She wanted to have a photo retouched---a picture of her dad, in his military uniform, dated in the 1940's. The finish was cracked but Dee has a way to 'repair' such things, restore them, for folks.
The client came in with shorts on and knee socks, with a brace on her left knee. She also sported a big white v-neck cardigan sweater over her clothes. Interesting...Well, as she chatted, it was explained that her husband with dementia was waiting in the car, but was fine.
Her swollen hands ached, and she showed us how one finger sort of locks in the bent position making it impossible to do simple things. She seemed sad, but then not really, just glad to have someone to tell her troubles to. "D" had breast cancer, lost both her breasts but could not have implants since she would not survive the surgery.
There was a heart attack, some auto-immune disease we ladies were unfamiliar with, and her bad knee. She was thankful for the brace which allowed her to stand!!! Otherwise, she would have been in a wheelchair, like her mom was before she died.
"D" pointed out her bloated stomach which was the result of her medication after the mastectomies. She said she wished she got a little baby from her 'pregnant' tummy! Funny and yet, tragic. Evidently the hormones make her body 'protect' the remaining fat and bloat her. The choice of clothing, then, is limited due to no breasts (but extra flesh remaining from where the implants were intended), the bloated tummy, and the knee brace.
One heart-rending thing she told us was how much she misses her husband, even though he was waiting in the car. Not the shell of a man he's become, but her dearly beloved. I could barely swallow...
"D" pointed out her bloated stomach which was the result of her medication after the mastectomies. She said she wished she got a little baby from her 'pregnant' tummy! Funny and yet, tragic. Evidently the hormones make her body 'protect' the remaining fat and bloat her. The choice of clothing, then, is limited due to no breasts (but extra flesh remaining from where the implants were intended), the bloated tummy, and the knee brace.
One heart-rending thing she told us was how much she misses her husband, even though he was waiting in the car. Not the shell of a man he's become, but her dearly beloved. I could barely swallow...
He shines, though, in the company of his granddaughters, especially when they practice their reading in front of him. Somehow that connects for him and he with them. "See Jane run. Run, Jane, run..." she told us.
Her facial appearance reminded me very much of my friend, Joanne, so I really must remember to call her! More than once this lady reached out to grasp my arm or hand, and across the desk to reach Dee's hand. I guess not only her husband flourishes from the touch of others....
Before she left the shop, Dee gave her a warm hug, a long one, as Dee has a way of repairing these things...restoring folks.
Stuff like this has a way of sticking with you!
