Chatter

Ruth is my new roommate.  Ruth loves to eat tomatoes with a little bit of sugar.  She and I share a love of scarves, although she wears hers with greater poise than I do.  All of Ruth's possessions are carefully crafted and were thoughtfully chosen.  The plates are Swedish.  The jewelry box is from Jerusalem.  The little sauce dishes are from Japan.  Sometimes, Ruth stays up all night long to read a book.  My kind of friend.

Ruth and I are new friends so we have talked a lot about each other's families, friends, and where we have been.  We watched the old version of Sense and Sensibility together and I can't wait to show her my favorite version.  She is pretty funny, but mostly she is really smart.  We have had really great conversations.  I feel like I can talk to her about a lot of things, but she will always talk about things that I don't know.

Tonight she was telling me about her trips to Jerusalem.  Whenever people talk about Jerusalem, I feel like time stands still.  Yes, I get so confused about dates and significant places there and history and facts and conflict, etc.  But, I could listen to a person's experiences there all day long.  She talked about traveling to Qumran and visiting the cave where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls.  "When I came out, the limestone was all over me and I was as white as a ghost.  But my smile was huge."  She told me about the Pyramids of Giza.  "Every geography book has a picture of these pyramids.  You've seen them your whole life, but there is nothing like being there."

The way she talked reminded me about some of my experiences in Italy.  I told her, "I believe we don't have to travel to feel apart of the world, but you are right.  Being in one of those places is an inspiring feeling."  Ruth agreed and then kept telling me about some of her favorite moments, like riding a camel or praying at the Western Wall.  She said that she was passing a bar mitzvah and the celebrators insisted she eat some of their food.  "They wanted to share some of their happiness with the tourists."  As she talked, she brought up her friends that she traveled with.  I could tell they had made a special bond, and it reminded me of my Alison.  Then she said, "All of the people I shared this with are dead.  Sometimes I wish I could talk to them about it and we could remember together."

Did I mention Ruth is 95-years-old?

Because it is me, you might have guessed that I have found a living arrangement that involves me being a caregiver again.  You are right.  I live for free in a basement and care for Ruth by cooking her dinner, eating with her, and helping her get ready for bed two nights a week and every other weekend.  After general conference, she made the goal to study the scriptures more.  So while she takes her pills, I read to her (which is helping out a lot because she can take forever on those pills sometimes--the scriptures keep us on track because I will stop reading when she needs to take one again).  She had me start in Isaiah (yet another example of something she understands and I don't).  Each night, I will read something that reminds her of something.  She will start talking about that something.  Then, she will look at me, wink, and say, "You don't mind if I chatter, do ya?"

No Ruth.  Chatter.  Chatter on.  I don't mind.

I think I just heard her turn off the television so I am going to stop this and tuck her in.   Insert in your minds: Trevor saying, "Oh finally, she will stop writing!"  He is always baffled when it comes to matters of my verbosity.  

She loves being tucked in.  It is the one moment that she enjoys having to be taken care of.  Every time I tuck the heated blanket closely under her back and up over her shoulders, she smiles at me and says, "I love that so much.  Thank you."  It is the sweetest "thank you" I have ever heard.