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slice of life
Sep. 28th, 2004 08:42 pmArlina's brother flew in from Hawaii last night and spent most of the day with her at the hospital. I took him out to lunch, prepared to dislike him for not being in touch for so long, but found instead that I liked him.
I took him back to Arlina's mom's, and hung out there for a while before heading back to the hospital. Her mom is so gentle with me these days. We have always gotten along just fine, but we seem to have connected in a deeper way in the past week or two.
When I got back to the hospital, Arlina was sleeping. I sat and watched her breathe for a while without disturbing her. Her pain is now in pretty good control, but there are other things keeping her from coming home. She is sleepy most of the time now. She often falls asleep in the middle of a sentence, and will wake up a moment later engaged in a conversation that began in an alternate reality. But she is also able to get up and roam the halls, talking with almost everyone she meets. She worked here for 12 years and is well-loved by all.
There was a moment this afternoon, as I watched her sleep, when I wondered if she would be able to come home. It was only a moment, but it was enough to cause me to realize that we are almost there. She woke up a few minutes later and asked what I was thinking, but fell asleep again before I could answer.
One of our chaplain friends has a little prayer service in the hospital chapel on tuesday evenings, and I wanted to go, so I woke Arlina up to tell her I was heading down there. She wanted to go too, so we walked down together, and sat with our friend for a while. We prayed for all the people we know. I said a prayer for those people who have friends who are sick, but don't know what to say to them. I've been there.
When we came back to the room, we had dinner together--half hospital food and half food from her mom. We sat side by side on the edge of the bed, sampling this and that. Hospital dessert was a delicious marshmallow cherry thing. I offered the last bite to Arlina, and she took it. :)
As we finished, she turned to me, gave me a a very gentle kiss and said, "Happy anniversary, baby". I reminded her that our anniversary was not until the second of October, and she replied, "I know".
I took him back to Arlina's mom's, and hung out there for a while before heading back to the hospital. Her mom is so gentle with me these days. We have always gotten along just fine, but we seem to have connected in a deeper way in the past week or two.
When I got back to the hospital, Arlina was sleeping. I sat and watched her breathe for a while without disturbing her. Her pain is now in pretty good control, but there are other things keeping her from coming home. She is sleepy most of the time now. She often falls asleep in the middle of a sentence, and will wake up a moment later engaged in a conversation that began in an alternate reality. But she is also able to get up and roam the halls, talking with almost everyone she meets. She worked here for 12 years and is well-loved by all.
There was a moment this afternoon, as I watched her sleep, when I wondered if she would be able to come home. It was only a moment, but it was enough to cause me to realize that we are almost there. She woke up a few minutes later and asked what I was thinking, but fell asleep again before I could answer.
One of our chaplain friends has a little prayer service in the hospital chapel on tuesday evenings, and I wanted to go, so I woke Arlina up to tell her I was heading down there. She wanted to go too, so we walked down together, and sat with our friend for a while. We prayed for all the people we know. I said a prayer for those people who have friends who are sick, but don't know what to say to them. I've been there.
When we came back to the room, we had dinner together--half hospital food and half food from her mom. We sat side by side on the edge of the bed, sampling this and that. Hospital dessert was a delicious marshmallow cherry thing. I offered the last bite to Arlina, and she took it. :)
As we finished, she turned to me, gave me a a very gentle kiss and said, "Happy anniversary, baby". I reminded her that our anniversary was not until the second of October, and she replied, "I know".
