Ruby and Aunt Dorothy

Last week I stopped by to see Aunt Dorothy. I knew that Delana was going to stop by the same day but I thought I would miss her by quite some time. When I got to Aunt Dorothy’s room I was greeted by Delana, Caelum, Ruby and Olivia. They seemed to be having a good time visiting. I got my hugs and kisses and settled down for a visit. I sat in Aunt Dorothy’s wheelchair. It wasn’t long before Ruby snuggled up in my lap and Olivia was close by.


Olivia is learning to read, so tries to sound out every word she sees. There was a sign on Aunt Dorothy’s wall that read “Family will do laundry”. Olivia worked and worked at it and finally read it. I praised her for her great reading skills. A few seconds later I looked at Ruby who had a thoughtful look on her face. She said ”Grandma, we are her family. Are we supposed to do her laundry?” That led to a discussion of what that did mean. Aunt Dorothy said she didn’t want to have the facility do her laundry because they put it all in a big pile with everyone else’s and that is nasty. She said she had no one to do her laundry and didn’t know what she was going to do. Ruby made us think. She was thoughtful enough to want to know what was happening and how we should help.  (I voluntered to take her laundry home, then pawned it off on Delana since she was coming back the next day)

When Aunt Dorothy began to cry, Ruby went around to the other side of the bed and grabbed a tissue to give to her. This is not to say Caelum and Olivia were not thoughtful, or concerned about Aunt Dorothy. On this particular day Ruby was on high alert and quite concerned and thoughtful about everything for her beloved great great aunt.

I need to try harder to be like Ruby and stay concerned about our loved ones feelings and needs.