Gratitude

Friday at suppertime. It’s been a whole week of Mondays. Wednesday was perhaps the worst one of all. Everything went wrong, not just for me, but the entire building. Two PSWs were out sick, which means everything was late. I had to wait until 8:30 AM to get up, instead of my usual 8. Meals were late, forgotten and screwed up. Even worse, the weather turned hot and humid and unbearable. Try working in those conditions with a mask over your nose and mouth. I felt really bad for all the workers. Everyone was grouchy.

Things began to turn around on Thursday. I’d made arrangements with Housekeeping to help me bring out my warm weather clothing and put away my cold weather stuff, in my closet and dresser drawers. Also, I wanted to switch my heavy, winter weight quilt with a lighter one more suitable for warm weather. It turned out to be a great surprise when I “discovered” all that great clothing that I’d forgotten about. The housekeeper went above and beyond the call of duty to help me. She even washed the bedding for me so that everything on my bed would be fresh and clean. She also washed my winter quilt and tucked it away for next fall. My hero.

The heroism continued. Friday morning dawned muggy and close. The temperature was predicted to go to 37°C with the humidex. MS heat intolerance makes this kind of weather feel like I have heavy sandbags attached to my limbs. It sucks the life out of me. I tried three times to pick up my toothbrush, and only succeeded on the fourth. My spirits did a complete 180° when the maintenance guy hooked up my AC unit in mere minutes. My workout this morning earned me a cherry popsicle. The frozen treat helped me chill out from the inside. Housekeepers paraded in and out of my room to examine and then clean the pile of dust discovered behind the air conditioner. My lunch arrived nice and early – they totally forgot about me once – and the server brought two extra pieces of garlic bread to go with my Greek salad. Another hero.

I’m a big believer in being grateful for small things. My hellish week began with the privacy violation but ended with gratitude. It could’ve been much worse. Today, it’s good to be me.