Saturday, February 15, 2020

Doin' Time At The Nursing Home

I didn't plan on seeing Grandmother's best friend at the nursing home today.  But last night I finally got around to seeing when the girls' and boys' state high school hockey finals are, and much to my surprise, they are, I am almost certain, earlier than they usually are, which is the "just in case" reason I checked in the first place.  Both finals are two weeks apart but usually in March.  Not so, at least not this year; the girls' finals, both classes, are next Saturday night.

I want to go.  But that means I have to reshuffle some chores.  I thought I would have time nearer the end of the month.  With this earlier date, plus coming in to work on Sundays -- and, to be honest, waking up at 8 in the morning as opposed to, say, 11 -- I carved some time to visit Grandmother's Best Friend.

One compromise I made, however.  I usually stay an hour.  I make a point that, once I sit down on her recliner, I will look at my watch; I get to go once 60 minutes pass from that point.  But I really, really wanted to see the beginning of the 11:30 EPL match (in this case it's Norwich City hosting Liverpool) on NBC because I haven't done that yet this season.  I don't know if I'll have another chance to do that this year, especially after my folks are home.  So, this one time, I permitted myself to leave after less than an hour so I would get home in time to see the beginning (and just the beginning; there are so many other chores I can only do today that I cannot stay and watch the whole match, sadly).

You're supposed to sign in when visiting.  Just out of curiosity, and this is something I did once before, I looked at the duration of previous visits.  For the most part, they are longer than an hour; I saw one where the person visited for three or four hours!  I was trying to look for short visits, ones less than an hour, and there were several -- 40 minutes here, a half-hour there, and the shortest were a pair of seemingly separate visits that lasted only 25 minutes.  From signing in to signing out (and this is different from sitting and listening to Grandmother's Best Friend), I lasted 38 minutes today.

It is difficult to just sit and watch her speak to me in Vietnamese even though I don't understand a word.  But I feel guilty.  That's why I usually stay an hour.  I have a feeling that people who come visit their old loved ones also feel guilty.

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I am blogging this while watching both EPL and men's college basketball.  I said I could only stay for the beginning of the former, and yet I am still here as the Canaries and Reds are halfway through the First Half.  I should up and leave.

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