Today I went to a Lutheran nursing home in Green Bay that I had performed at before. Each time I go to this home, it brings back a memory from 15 years ago.
It was a warm spring day. I was heading to Green Bay for the performance. My mother wondered if she could come along so that we could go shopping later. Fine, I said.
But when we got to the nursing home, my mother was surprised, because she thought I would be telling stories at a school. Come on in, I said. You can watch.
But she refused. She said she would prefer to sit in a gazebo on the grounds. Come on, I said, it's going to be an hour and a half. You don't want to be out here all that time. But she sat down and refused to come in. She simply was not going to budge.
I did the performance, came out and she was still there, fanning herself because of the hot day.
It wasn't until we were shopping that I began to understand that she was afraid of nursing homes, and especially a Lutheran nursing home. She was a Lutheran and she thought that I might be planning on leaving her there. Paranoia, plain and simple.
In fact, she died suddenly and never had to live in such a facility. I think about that every time I perform at Woodside.
It was a warm spring day. I was heading to Green Bay for the performance. My mother wondered if she could come along so that we could go shopping later. Fine, I said.
But when we got to the nursing home, my mother was surprised, because she thought I would be telling stories at a school. Come on in, I said. You can watch.
But she refused. She said she would prefer to sit in a gazebo on the grounds. Come on, I said, it's going to be an hour and a half. You don't want to be out here all that time. But she sat down and refused to come in. She simply was not going to budge.
I did the performance, came out and she was still there, fanning herself because of the hot day.
It wasn't until we were shopping that I began to understand that she was afraid of nursing homes, and especially a Lutheran nursing home. She was a Lutheran and she thought that I might be planning on leaving her there. Paranoia, plain and simple.
In fact, she died suddenly and never had to live in such a facility. I think about that every time I perform at Woodside.
No comments:
Post a Comment