While it is relatively fresh in my mind, I might as well capture my last visit the recently departed Mary Lee Berridge. Natalie and I were up there to extricate her from her apartment in New Haven and had done that and were having a rest day on Sunday in White Plains before driving home.
Mary Lee was staying in the Pavilion at the Osborne, its rehab, after a stay in the hospital. It was a perfectly pleasant room, I think Beth had taken some pictures down there to make her feel more at home. Mary Lee was using a walker, and as it was a mild day, we decided to hang out in the garden. I found a nice shady spot under a pergola or suchlike and we sat there and talked, almost certainly about Natalie's plans for and prospects in Alaska and maybe Graham's at UNC.
A little parched, Mary Lee asked if I could go in and ask one of the nurses for a protein drink, which I did. Then we decided to go for a little walk on the grounds. We went maybe 50-100 yards before we were met by a friend of Mary Lee's out for a stroll and looking at the trees. I think it was the practice to name trees after their friends there after they passed on, and they were discussing naming rights for trees or something like that in the best of spirits. Really it was lovely.
By now it had been a pretty solid exertion for Mary Lee. She had been resting on the little seat on her walker and she decided it was time to head back. She had long since been worrying that she was taking up too much of our time on a Sunday and we had been assuring her that we had nothing better to do, which was the absolute truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment