Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home

Yesterday I purchased the items that Mr. Richards asked me to get for him, and because it was Black Friday, there was a special deal on the fabric for the drapes. This morning at the Birch Street Nursing Home, when I handed the fabric to him, he exclaimed that it was the perfect shade and that I have a good eye for decorating. He went through the rest of the bags himself, and when he pulled out the extra large chocolate bar, he handed it to me and thanked me for being such a sweet kid.

Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home: Thanksgiving Edition

It's become a Thanksgiving tradition for the nurses at the Birch Street Nursing Home to take the holiday off, so I spent the day with the patients. As usual, we went around the poker table, each patient saying what he or she was thankful for. Since this was Mr. Richards' first Thanksgiving with us, Mrs. Kunkle suggested that he start. He said he was thankful to be surrounded by so many fabulous people. He then pulled me aside and asked me to go up to his room and grab the purple bag from the back of his closet. So while the other patients were busy saying what they were thankful for, I went up to find that bag. It was a bit heavy, and I saw why when Mr. Richards opened the bag and pulled out several bottles of brandy. After Mrs. Henley's second glass, she got a little confused and asked Mrs. Lieberman if she had any queens. Everyone laughed, and Mrs. Lieberman reminded her that they were playing poker, not Go Fish. The patients all had a happy Thanksgiving, and before I left, I reminded them that I'd see them on Saturday.

Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home

Mr. Richards, the new patient at the Birch Street Nursing Home, is settling in nicely and has made friends with all the other patients. In fact, when I got there this morning, he was leading several of the patients in a medley of show tunes in the activity room. I was surprised to learn that Mrs. Henley has a good voice. There was a lot of energy at the poker table today, and Mr. Richards had what Mrs. Lieberman calls beginner's luck. Before I left this afternoon, Mr. Richards handed me his winnings and a list of things he wants me to pick up for him. Number one on his list is bright turquoise fabric to replace the drapes in his room. He said those awful drapes will kill him before old age does.

Fanny Mail: A Tooth Fairy Question

Kiddies, I just received an email from Maria Gonzalez of San Diego, California. Maria writes: "Dear Grandmother Winsome, this morning our six-year-old son had an accident on his skateboard. He went into the street and crashed into a parked car, in the process losing several of his front teeth. Well, now he says he's putting all those teeth under his pillow for the tooth fairy tonight. I told him that it only counts if a tooth falls out naturally. These missing teeth are due to his own inability on the skateboard, and he shouldn't be rewarded for incompetence. Besides, at a dollar a tooth, that would mean a loss of four dollars for my husband and me, and we just aren't willing to spend that kind of money on our children. Our son has been crying for the last hour, but we feel we aren't being unreasonable. What do you think?" 

Sweetie, I totally understand and I don't think you and your husband are being unreasonable. Carelessness should not be rewarded. However, your son would have naturally lost those teeth eventually, and you'd be out the four dollars at some point. So why not tell him he can put just one of those teeth under his pillow tonight, but must wait on the others? Then if he's good and has no other accidents, you can allow him to put another of those teeth under his pillow once every other week. That way, you won't feel the loss in your pocketbook as much, and your son might learn to be more careful with his toys.

Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home

There was excitement today at the Birch Street Nursing Home. When I arrived this morning, there was a note from the head nurse telling me she had reached out to Debbie about the vacant room, and that Debbie's father, Mr. Richards, would be moving in today. He didn't arrive until the early afternoon, which gave me time to tidy up his room and sweep away the cobwebs. I thought I was missing out on the poker game, but when I went back downstairs, none of the women were at the poker table. I found them each in their rooms, putting on makeup and brushing their hair. But when Debbie arrived with her father, they were all back downstairs ready to welcome him. Mrs. Henley complimented Mr. Richards on his bright silk scarf, and Mrs. Kunkle said she loved his yellow glasses. Mr. Volkov offered to help him carry some of his many bags up to his room. Everything indicated that Mr. Richards is going to be a perfect fit at the Birch Street Nursing Home.

Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home

With all the excitement last week over my plastic pumpkin full of candy, I completely forgot to check for any responses to the classified ad. So this morning when I got to the Birch Street Nursing Home, the first thing I did was call the number. And, sure enough, there were four messages. The first was from a guy offering to re-pave the driveway. He said he was running a special deal this week only. The Birch Street Nursing Home driveway could use some work, but that message was from last week, so I'm certain the deal is over. The second message was from Mean Mo, who said he will be getting out of prison soon and will need a place to stay. He said he is under eighty, is an expert poker player and can easily get up the stairs, so I put him in the "maybe" pile. The third message was from a guy offering to replace the windows. He said he was running a special deal this week only. And the last message was from a woman named Debbie who said she is ready for her father to get professional care. She said he met all the requirements in the ad, so I added his name to the "maybe" pile for the head nurse to look at when she is in on Monday.

Grandmother Winsome's Tips For Better Living

If you wish to impress that special someone with an expensive piece of jewelry, don't heist it from a famous museum. In this distrustful climate, sneaky curators are known to secretly replace their best pieces with cheap plastic replicas, and those won't impress anyone.

Cindy's Job At The Birch Street Nursing Home

Today at the Birch Street Nursing Home, I shared my pumpkin full of candy with the patients. Mrs. Henley was so happy, and immediately grabbed all four full-sized candy bars that were in there.