Gratitude

Nurse Gladys wheeled the cantankerous nonagenarian into the dining room of the Sunrise Assisted Living Center. She navigated through the maze of tables until she found a table with some residents that she thought wouldn’t mind sharing the table with him. Positioning his wheelchair in a one of the two spots left, she greeted the two ladies already seated there.

“Good evening, ladies. How would you like some company for dinner?”

“That’s fine, Gladys. Arthur is welcome to join us,” said the one named Ethyl. Miriam nodded in agreement.

“All right, Arthur, here we are. Now behave yourself. You have a nice dinner with Ethyl and Miriam. It’s meatloaf tonight. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so it’s turkey day. Hmmm, I can’t wait. One of my favorite holidays – good food among friends. Reminds us all to be thankful for what we have enjoyed in life.”

Arthur grunted.

“He’s a little tired this evening, ladies. I’m sure he’ll feel better with a good meal in his belly,” Gladys tried to reassure the two women. 

She needed a break and did not want Miriam and Ethyl to say they would rather not have Arthur join them. Then it would be her responsibility to find another dinner partner for him. It was an unwritten rule at the assisted living center that no resident should eat alone. 

Arthur had lived here ever since he had turned eighty-five. That was six years ago. And in the three months that Gladys had worked at the center, she hadn’t heard him say a single nice thing to anyone. He was always complaining, arguing and being generally unpleasant. Many residents did not want to spend time dealing with such a cranky fellow. 

“Don’t worry, Gladys.  We are used to Arthur’s moods. Leave him here with us. You can come back to collect him in an hour or so, when we should be finished eating,” said Ethyl.

“Yeah. Don’t forget, we were both married for a long time. We can deal with crotchety old men,” joked Miriam. “Seriously, we’ll be fine.”

Gladys was relieved. She smiled thankfully at the two ladies. Once their food arrived, she bade Arthur a quick good-bye, and hurried off to the staff room for her dinner and a break. Arthur was her special charge, and she would love nothing more than for him to make some friends. It might soften him up a bit. But in the meantime, she appreciated the moments when she could steal away to regroup.

“Arthur, she’s nice to you. Must you turn everyone against you?” Ethyl chided, as she watched Gladys retreat. “And it’s clear to everyone here that she’s taken an extra special interest in you. She really seems to care.” 

“Eh, she’s all right I guess. Better than that last nurse they assigned to me. And the one before that one. At least Gladys won’t betray me like Nurse Alice did. You know she stole my most prized possession, Alice did – the painting my daughter gave me before she died. I loved that painting – it was as good as any you see in a museum,” Arthur said, suddenly talkative.

“Oh, I’m sure Gladys wouldn’t do anything like that,” said Miriam. “She’s too nice. But that story does explain why you are so irritable at times. I’m sure it was horrible to lose something so precious. I don’t think we ever met Alice. Did we, Ethyl?”

“No, I don’t recall an Alice. We’ve been here a year. She must have been gone before we came to live here.”

“Alice hasn’t been at this place for at least a year. Fired. And good riddance,” grumbled Arthur. “Gladys is different, I get that. She doesn’t just go through the motions. I think she does care. You know, she even bought me a frame for a picture I have of my daughter. It was a selfie she took a long time ago. Lisa was still young and we drove up the mountains to see the total eclipse of the sun. I remember that day. It was beautiful. Just the two of us enjoying nature. We were in the path of totality. We laughed when it got so dark that she had to use a flash to take the photo. It was a weird feeling to be in total darkness in the middle of the day.”

“See, now there’s a nice memory of you and your daughter,” said Ethyl. “We didn’t even know you had children. You should focus on the good things in life, not all the negative. People get tired of hearing only bad things from you. Why don’t you tell us about some more fun things like that. Any sports or games you played in school, or places you have been? Anything exciting that happened in your life.”

“Oh, gosh, plenty of stuff I could tell you. But I don’t want to bore you ladies. I could have written a book about my life, believe you me. It would have been a best seller, too. The things I have seen and the places I’ve been…long before I had to come here, I mean. I’ve been to places so remote, on every corner of the earth. The Son Doong Cave, Tepui, the Rock Islands. Places you probably never even heard about.”

“Amazing! We’d love to hear all about it… tell us, please,” said Miriam. “We’re all ears.”

But Arthur had had enough conversation for one day.

“Hmph. Not tonight. I’m gonna eat this stuff before it gets cold. I suggest you do the same. Their meatloaf is no bargain, but it’s even worse if it gets cold. Then it’s completely inedible.”

Ethyl and Miriam exchanged glances. That was the most conversation anyone had gotten out of Arthur since they had been at Sunrise.

“Good idea,” said Ethyl. “I’m famished. Let’s eat. But Arthur, this conversation isn’t over. It sounds like you had a fascinating life. We’re going to have to hear more on another day. You won’t be able to put us off.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Arthur muttered.

**

The next morning, Gladys knocked on Arthur’s door, ready to take him to the dining room for a special Thanksgiving breakfast.

“Come in,” grumbled Arthur.

“Good morning, Arthur. Happy Thanksgiving to you! I see you are all ready to go for your holiday breakfast,” said Gladys in her usual cheery voice. “But I have something for you to do first.”

“What? I don’t have anything to do this morning– matter of fact, there’s never anything to do in this damn place. Anyway, I’m hungry. Let’s get some grub.”

“This first.”

Arthur was a bit startled by Gladys’s no-nonsense tone. She placed a pen and paper on the desk in his room.

“Ethyl and Miriam have been talking this morning. Seems you made quite an impression on them last night at dinner. They said you have had the most interesting life. You are currently the talk of the Sunrise Assisted Living Center. The rumor mill has started, with residents guessing what you did before you came here. They all want to know about your exciting life.”

Arthur grunted. “Just what I need. I should have kept my mouth shut. Ugh – the old biddies.”

“Give it up, Arthur. The cat’s already out of the bag, as the expression goes. I’m not going to press you for details of your life, at least not yet. But before breakfast, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, and in the spirit of you finally making friends in this place, I want you to write down three things you are thankful for. You have to write down one thing before breakfast, one after breakfast and one final expression of gratitude after we have our Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Or what?” Arthur challenged.

“Or nothing. Look, you’re not a child. This isn’t hard. You’ve had a good, long life and more to go. Surely you can think of one thing that you appreciate, and then we can go eat.”

Arthur grunted again, but he picked up the pen and wrote: 

I am thankful for war, so that we can appreciate peace.

He smirked and looked at Gladys. He put the pen down with a “drop the mike” attitude.

“Bet you didn’t see that one coming!” he said gleefully.

Gladys sighed, but vowed not to give in. “Very funny. You are trying to be ornery, but from what you wrote, I take it that you value peace very highly. Something to treasure. I wouldn’t have put it the same way, but I too, value peace. Now, let’s go eat.”

Arthur grunted. 

As they neared the dining room, they could hear the usual cacophony of chatter. When Gladys opened the door, the chatter became whispers. There were several tables with open seats beckoning for Arthur to join the occupants. Arthur had never been greeted like this before. In fact, in his six years here, he mostly felt like an intruder, not a welcomed guest.

“Well Arthur,” Gladys said aloud. “It seems you have attracted a lot of interest. See what happens when you let your guard down and open up to people who care about you?”

Arthur was surprised by the reception he was getting. He motioned to sit with Ethyl and Miriam again, who happily waved for him to join them. 

“Good food among friends. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about.” Arthur repeated Gladys’s line with a tinge of sarcasm, as he took his place at their table. “Too bad we don’t get any good food in this place.”

 “Oh, Arthur, did you just say we are your friends? Miriam, did you hear that? We’ve known you for the better part of a year and that’s the nicest thing you ever said to us!” Ethyl laughed.

Arthur grunted.

“Can’t say he’s wrong about the food, though - at least this morning,” said Miriam. “Runny oatmeal, and cold coffee.” Miriam picked up her spoon and let the oatmeal drip off. “Ugh-even I can’t eat this. I guess they want us hungry for our Thanksgiving feast this afternoon.”

After breakfast, which most of the residents passed on eating, Gladys returned Arthur to his room and pushed him toward his desk.

“Ok, second one,” she ordered.

“Second one what?”

“You know, Arthur. You can’t play dumb with me! Your mind is as sharp as it was twenty years ago. Now write.” And Gladys pointed to the pen and paper.

 Arthur sighed, then wrote:

I am grateful for the time I had with my daughter, Lisa.

He placed the pen down gently this time. Gladys didn’t say anything. She turned, so Arthur wouldn’t see her smile.

“OK, one to go. You have plenty of time to think about it. First, we’ll take our morning walk. It’s a beautiful fall day, then a little rest before Thanksgiving dinner.

**

As they entered the dining room, most of the residents were already there, anxiously awaiting a holiday meal. There were still plenty of seats for Arthur to choose from, as people beckoned him to join them. Once again stunned at the reception he was receiving, he nodded to Ethyl and Miriam. Gladys parked his wheelchair by the empty space at their table.

Then, in a surprise twist, Gladys sat down at the same table, just across from Arthur. Ethyl and Miriam smiled and nodded. 

Arthur looked across at Gladys and just grunted.

Plates of turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and green beans were being handed out to all the diners.

“This looks lovely,” Gladys chimed.

“Yes, doesn’t it,” said Ethyl.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse,” said Miriam. “Not literally, of course.”

The three ladies at the table chuckled. Gladys looked at Arthur, who had raised his napkin to his mouth. But he couldn’t hide his smiling eyes. Progress, she thought, grinning.

A good meal was had by all. Lots of laughing, toasting and good cheer filled the dining room.

Arthur didn’t say much, but he seemed to enjoy the afternoon. He ate everything on his plate despite complaints that the turkey was dry, the cranberry sauce wasn’t as good as when his wife used to make it, and the green beans tasted like canned beans. 

His complaints couldn’t dampen the mood at his table, no matter how much he tried.

After a while, Miriam, who wasn’t known for holding her tongue, had enough. “Stop trying to be such a Debbie Downer! You are enjoying yourself, and we all know it, so you may as well admit it.”

Arthur couldn’t quite admit he was having fun. Not yet. But he did stop complaining. And he was smiling.

Baby steps, Gladys thought.

When the meal was finished, Gladys returned Arthur to his room and once again parked him by his desk.

“Number three – write,” she said.

“No, I’m done with this.”

“Our deal was three things. I’ll stay until you put on paper a third thing that you are grateful for – that was what I asked you to do.”

“It’s already done – I finished before dinner,” Arthur said quietly.

Gladys glanced at the paper.

Gladys and my other friends.