A day brightener - slice of life moment.

[jkn]

(I posted this to rM.ning also)

I'm in line at Subway and a lady in front of me is hem-hawing over what to get. She decides on a turkey sandwich - then at the last minute goes "what's a subway club?" - "ok - I'll get that instead" - she then leans over to me grabs my shoulder and says "I'm so sorry I just can't make up my mind sometimes! You're going to regret getting behind me" in a cute semi-southern voice.

I order.

She's picking out veggies - slowly - she apologizes again - and I say something like "I'm in no rush - take all the time you want" - and she says - "oh sheesh - my sons they would have bolted for the door by now! You know I'd say when you get to be my age of 65 you start forgetting things and can't make up your mind anymore - but I was like this when I was 20! You know my son is 40 and I've had lymphoma for so long - it's amazing..." There must have been some other sentence in there as a transition to the cancer comment - but maybe not - I can't remember... anyway...

And I said - "well, I'm 40 and my mom had lymphoma" - she caught the "had" and said "oh I'm so sorry you lost your mom" -

And I said "it's ok it's been a long, long time" - and she said " I should have been dead many years ago but I seem to have gotten lucky - the form of non-hodgkins lymphoma I have isn't that aggressive" and I told her mom had non-hodgkins lymphoma also and got it in 1986 and passed away in 1992.

It was simply the cutest totally random conversation and brightened my day considerably. I explained how mom worked for Life Flight at St. Francis and helped people newly diagnosed with cancer.

And then we wished each other a good day.

[hdibrell]

Great story, John! I can relate to it very well as I spent this weekend in a retirement home. (No, I'm not THAT old yet! I was visiting my mother up in Waco.) If you take the time to stop and talk to someone older, you often get a very interesting story. I found out the difference between a one horse day and a four horse day from a retired rancher. (Has to do with the heat and how many horses it takes to get the job done). I also talked to a retired woman's professional golfer and heard some great golfing stories. Like John Prine says, take a little time and say "Hello In There".

[APK]

John.
If you want me to put out a hit on the old gal just let me know ... I understand just how annoying these old people can be !   

Which reminds me of a fine Jerry Garcia / David Grisman kids album I have here : "Old and In The Way".
What a great title.

APK

[lena]

One of my favorite things about working in a few different nursing homes was all the great stories people told me! 

(I also really liked the stories I heard when I worked in a looney bi... I mean "psychiatric facility," but those were a completely different thing altogether.)