Manger

 I do not mean manager, not menagerie, I mean manger the thing you have on your table or under the tree at Christmas. It has a donkey, sheep, cows, other farm animals breathing over Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph looking lovingly at the baby. Nan believed that everyone should have a manger in their home at Christmas or around the holidays to bring the spirit of Christmas into the home. It does not have to be big, made of ivory, or painted beautiful colors. 

Many years ago I was driving home from work two days before New Years Eve and I get a call from my sister that Nan is in the hospital with two broken arms. I pulled over in the car and shouted. "WHAT"! Yes Nan was reading the morning paper two days after Christmas that year and saw an ad for a manger on sale at a local Christian theme store in the city where she lived. She lived in the northeastern United States so it was a cold day. Coat, hat and out the door. She scraped the windows on her car, turned on the defroster and she was going to get one of those mangers, giving it to someone for the following Christmas as a surprise. She pulled up on the side of a busy street opposite side of the street from the store that was advertising. She walked between two cars and into traffic right in front of a man that was not looking for an old lady between two car. He slammed on the brakes but not in enough time. His car hit her and threw her forward in the middle of the street. She threw her arms as far forward as she could to break the fall, in the meantime broke both arms. She was rushed to the hospital and immediately both arms were put in a plaster cast. Not the new lightweight ones that are pink, purple, yellow, green that kids get these days. It had to be plaster because her broken bones would only heal with this type of cast. She insisted on going back to her apartment and be by herself.

She could not: turn a door knob, take off her coat, light a cigarette, turn on the stove for coffee, pulled down her panties to go to the bathroom, sit in a chair by herself, get out of a chair by herself. She had two broken arms, but she could wiggle her fingers. When my sisters allowed me to fly home, I was there to give assistance to them. For the first time in my life I saw my mother nude. We all had to help her shower, brush her hair, brush her teeth, get out of the shower, wash her hair, towel dry her body, put on her panties, dress her, make all of her meals, take her for checkups, make her coffee, light her cigarettes and listen to how we were doing everything WRONG!

My sisters went home every night, before I arrived one sister made breakfast then went to work, the other sister came home for lunch from work did lunch stuff, another sister did dinner stuff and family members did laundry, dishes, get the mail, keep her company and watch her sleep. When I flew in I was prepared to stay for two weeks and told everyone to stay home, get some rest, go to work and I can handle this. I had not lived with my mother in 46 years, I could handle this, I would just be COOL, CALM, and Obedient. That lasted about 32 hours. We did not have a shouting match because I would have lost. I did what I was told to do the way she wanted things done. I am not a good listener, I do not do well being told what to do, but one thing I do know I was wrong and she was right. SHUT UP and DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD! The cast was on 9 weeks and I only did a tiny part. My sisters, her sisters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, neighbors all participated in the recovery.

DO NOT WALK BETWEEN PARKED CARS