We struggle through making two different kinds of coffee at Suzie's. She has all the fixings, we just have to figure out how to make it work.
We have breakfast at Cracker Barrel and everyone knows Suzie, gives her hugs and sends love to Dick. Janice, a good friend to Suzie who looks like she and Suzie could be related, shows up a little late but start telling stories right away. She has a Kentucky accent and it lends to the fun flavor of her stories.
Breakfast is good. I had grits for the first time. Reminded me of cream of wheat and I liked them sweet. The specialty apple butter was good too AND the syrup with some real maple syrup in it in cute little glass jars. (Like a little liquor bottle but with syrup instead of liquor).
We drive to Lexington, in Suzie's car, where Dick is staying at The Lantern at Morning Point. All the while Janice is regaling us with great stories about many things including "little man hands". I was in tears with that story. The drive is interesting to say the least.
We find Dick in the lobby. He is slouched down in his chair. His chin has slid down in to the hard collar they have him wearing for his neck issues.
Suzie and Janice introduce themselves. Suzie adjusts the collar so Dick can see forward. Gary get's down at eye level and Dick's face just lights up when he realizes who he is looking at. (He didn't recognize me but knew who I was after he saw Gary). Dick gets up and uses his little push walker and we go to his room.
They allow you to bring your own furniture and decorations in to the facility. Dick has his wonderful cycling photos and a fantastic quilt that Suzie has made from his Harley Tshirts. Dick opens his cards and gifts and we chat. He looses train of thought easily.
The staff nurse comes in to check on us and let us know that lunch will start in about 20 minutes. They are taking good care of him there.
This is all so sad. Dick has been a good friend for many years and seeing him so frail is heart breaking. Suzie is doing the best she can but she misses her man, you can tell.
As Dick is seated to lunch Gary tries to find a bath room and sets of the alarm on the front door. Then when he is in the BR he locks the door and I watch a young nurse start to use her key to open the door to see who is in there with the door locked. I talk loud enough to stop her and moments later Gary steps out. It is a good tension breaker after our visit with Dick.
We drop Janice off at her car in Dry Ridge and continue to lunch at Suzie's.
After lunch we drive to Billy's in Corinth. He offers to take us for a ride in his 4x4. Suzie gets in and belts in and I follow her lead. It has been raining. The trees and tall grasses are wet so we get a soaking on this butt-clenching tour around his property. We jump some deer. We visit his tobacco barn (which is not old). The view from the top of his property is really beautiful. These are things you hear about as a kid but never get to see.
Billy has not set (planted) any tobacco but has a nice garden with a tall deer fence.
There are two geometric panels on his property. These are painted quilt blocks. Many of the barns in Kentucky sport these colorful blocks. They are part of the "Quilt Trail" For a better understanding look up Kentucky Barn Quilt Map on Google. I get some nice photos of the two on his property. They are bright and remind me of the decorative Hex signs on Pennsylvania barns.
Billy and Gary start talking cars and old cars so Suzie and I go sit on his porch while they talk it out.
We drive back to Suzie's for dinner, the crock pot pork roast she cooked yesterday with all the fixings.
My hair is sure curly here in moist Kentucky.
No comments:
Post a Comment