Margie in praise of showers

FaceTime conversation with Margie today, as I’m still not well enough to go visit in person. Seeing her on a screen means I have the benefit of being able to write down what she says on the spot, not having to remember and write it down later. 

She tells me she now has a carer who comes three times a week, from 10 a.m. till noon. “She’s a beautiful young woman with a lovely nature, quiet and yet responsive. Very much there. She comes from somewhere in Africa, and she has this quiet warmth. I feel spoiled out of this world. Like a queen. She brings her own lunch, and Lucy always leaves me something in the fridge to eat for lunch, so the two of us share a meal before she leaves. It feels so civilized.”

What good fortune for Margie, for her kids, for her carer, and for the world, that she has taken so gracefully to having a carer. She does two things with the carer: first, they go for a walk outside the building, using the walker/rollator, not a wheelchair. “Anything from a block to six blocks, depending on the weather and my crazy head. I always get dizzy at the end. And then we come home, and as soon as the dizziness lets up, she helps me take a shower. Oh, that is the best thing! I love having a shower.

“A shower opens me up to living. Until I feel the water, I’m not ready to enter the world. But here it comes and I lift my face up to it, and I’m present. I'm going to live another day. Showers are the best. I’m sorry for all the people who don’t have showers. It’s such a privilege. I love water. On the days when the carer doesn’t come, Lucy pops in before going to work, so I get a shower every day. I am so lucky.”