Day Two

First off , my son commented that I call my blog "A waitress and a Mom" why wasn't it a Mom and a Waitress?



I told him I have been a waitress for over thirty one years and have been a Mom for only twenty three years. Ya gotta give credit where credit is due!



Massey is safely at camp, having a blast. She called last night around midnight to tell me that there was another convention group at the same site. A "Clown" convention.



Massey has always been terrified of clowns (like Kramer on Seinfeld.) She, even at a young age said that you just never knew who those people were behind those painted on faces and didn't trust them. I told her that she was with the East Coweta Indians marching band and that Indians could take care of clowns pretty easily. She laughed at that and told the other girls in her room and I heard them all giggling.



This morning I woke up with a new mission. Yesterday when Zach and I went to visit Frances, she was in the church service and we had to wait to see her. A therapist was waiting for another patient so I took this spare time to pick her brain. I told her that what we really needed was another table that you can roll across the bed like the one Frances eats her meals off of. I told her that I had brought in my daughter's lap top for Frances to use while she was there and if we had another table, we could leave the lap top on one while she used the other for meals.

She told me that while Frances was not one of her patients she had heard of her and her situation. She also told me that she told her own patients not to bring their watches, jewelry or even their teeth to re hab as sometimes things seemed to (using quote marks in the air with her hands) disappear.

This shed an entirely new light on the situation. I haven't even finished paying for Massey's lap top. It had not even occurred to me that someone would try to steal the computer. I told her that I had brought Frances a lap top bag to keep it in. Her comment was that would only make it easier to walk out with.

I told her that I just couldn't even imagine taking this life line away from Frances. She is hard of hearing and can't communicate over her cell phone, but with the computer she can keep in contact with her family in Tennessee, North Carolina and Texas.

I am still paying the computer off and was torn as far as what to do. I talked to my sister later on that night, she was in Florida for a weekend trip. Cindy mentioned that we should get a briefcase with a combination lock to keep the lap top in and chain it to the bed with a bicycle lock.

Problem solved! I went to Walmart this morning to get a briefcase with a combination lock. Obviously they stopped making them in the seventies. Every bag for a computer was soft and pliable. I couldn't find a hard case to put the computer in that could be locked. All anyone had to do was use a knife or razor and zip the bag open and walk out with Massey's computer.

I was determined.

I found myself finally in the sporting goods dept. finding a Black and Decker tool box that was hard plastic and had a place on the clasp for a padlock. Only ten bucks...and once I took out all the shelving, there seemed to be room enough for the lap top. I purchased a three foot long combination bike lock and a padlock for the tool box.

$10.00 for the toolbox, $2.00 for the padlock, $3.00 for the bike lock...cost to keep Frances happy...PRICELESS !

Got back in the car and headed happily to the re hab to see if my computer was still there.

Got about a mile away from the place and realized I was once again SO out of gas. Pulled into a gas station to buy my next $6 fix and realized I had left my debit card at home.

I turned my car around, hoping I had enough gas to get back to the house , when I realized I would have to pass the restaurant I worked for on the way. I stopped in the middle of a lunch shift and asked the girls if anyone would loan me six bucks for gas. of course they did and I returned to my mission (thanks Darby...I owe you big time).

Got to the re hab and found Frances had two visitors. I came in looking like a mechanic carrying my tools and told them why.

It took us at least half an hour to figure out the bike lock, and Frances' two friends had quite a time with the combination padlock..."Just like we used to have in school on our lockers!"

We finally figured it all out and put the combination to the tool box on the underside of a small figurine that sat on Frances window sill.

When I stepped out of the room, I ran into the woman who had told me about the dangers of having an unsecured computer on the premises.


She immediately told me she was so sorry she had said that to me yesterday. I told her that I was entirely grateful she had. She said she didn't mean to imply that the staff was dishonest. I told her that I just hadn't thought of the big picture. Someone visiting a patient could be cruising by Frances' room when she was in therapy and see a lap top...in these hard times if you aren't an honest person a computer sitting all alone can not only be a temptation but an invitation.

I told her not to feel bad about saying that to me, but to know that I appreciated her bringing it to my attention.

We are now secure with the computer and Frances has a place to lock up any of her valuables as well.

I wheeled Frances up to the lobby to connect to the internet (she SHOULD be able to get online from two doors down from her room) another battle I am currently fighting.

Ya know, God smiled on me once again . No checks bounced, Massey is off at camp with everything she needs, Frances still has the computer, I didn't run out of gas and things are good. I am a firm believer in " What goes around, comes around."

She was so excited to get email from our relatives, read my blog and check her bank account. It really doesn't take much to make another person happy.

You know what...I think it may have made me even happier.

When I went to leave, she stood up in her wheelchair and I thought she needed me to help her get onto the bed.

She just wanted to give me a hug.

That was the most touching thing I could have ever gotten from her...THANK YOU FRANCES.

You are my hero...In the words of Oprah....YOU GO GIRL.