When I came home from the hospital (after my stroke nearly two years ago), my sister and daughters helped me climb the stairs to my bedroom. It felt good to be back in my home and my bed. As my daughters were helping my sister put some of my things away, I hear my sister exclaim, "I can't believe you still have this?" What she was referring to was a yellow and green turtle pin that a patient made for me when I was a kid.
Our mother was an evening supervisor at a nursing home. One day, this woman saw my dad come to the nursing home to pick us up after school. The lady asked my mom when we would be back. My mom informed her that we came there after school and waited for my dad to get off work so he could pick us up.
One day, the lady asked my mom to bring us to her because she had a surprise for us. So, she did.
I remember entering her small musty room and she sat in her chair waiting on us. Turns out, no one ever came to visit her. She motioned for us to come near her and my mom told us it was alright. She grabbed my hand and told us that she thought we were well-mannered children because we listened to our mom and quietly did our homework with disturbing the other residents. She also reminded us to always listen to our mom and to excel in school.
In my hand, she placed a red fox with green eyes; my sister received the green turtle. We thanked her and took the newly-acquired gifts with us. My sister didn't like her pin and was going to throw it out, but I talked her out of it and took her pin. As you may have guessed, my sister is NOT a sentimental fool.
Over the years, I've worn and kept both pins. The turtle ended up being my favorite. I have a thing about them because of the role they play in Native American culture.
My youngest child asked me a few days later if she could wear my turtle pin. I had to think about it because if she lost the pin; I would be devastated. It holds such a special place in my heart. My daughter pleaded with me and I agreed with some reservation.
The next week, she came home from school and told me she had something to give me. She had wrapped the pin in a napkin and placed it in my hand. "Mom, I know how much Mr. Turtle means to you," she said. "As you can see, I took good care of him." I hugged her with one hand, held my turtle, and kissed her on the forehead. My green-eyed childhood friend was home.
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Thursday, December 17th 2009 at 12:28PM
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