A MESSAGE FROM????

Red, Cole and I made another trip to a nursing home today, and I met a woman that seemed to have a message for me. Hmmm.

Cole did great - nothing phased him (not the sleeping people in their wheelchairs in the halls, not the man who kept giving him Ritz crackers, not the blind woman who couldn't really respond and not even the drooling man wearing diapers) until we got to one room that had that distinct, nasty nursing home smell. You know. Basically a diaper that needed changing.

He was really grossed out, and I felt bad that I had not mentioned that possibility. Later, though, he said "At first it grossed me out, but then it just made me sad." Then we had a long talk about how humiliating it would be. Never know what might come up at these visits....

So, there we were on the third floor and walked towards a woman in a wheelchair with a blank look on her face. She saw Cole, and her eyes followed him. We introduced ourselves, and she asked slowly if Cole was my boy. I said yes. She stared at me - really seemed to look deeply into my eyes. Cole went off with Red, and I stayed with her (Mrs. Rogers). It was hard to follow what she was saying at first.

Then, she looked right at me and said "You are brave."

Let me tell you, there are many days as a single mom I feel much more of a mess than brave. She said it again. "You are very brave." I said thanks and she asked "do you take care of your boy?" I said yes. She said "Well, you need some help." She was still looking straight into my eyes.

By this point, I'm wondering "who is this lady? how does she know about my life?" I said "Well, yes I really do need help." It was so...not sure what the word is. Thoughtful? Eerie? Prophetic? Spiritual? Not to sound too weird, but it was like a message I needed to hear.

Now, she did go on to tell me I should just call the nursery to get some help. But, I'm going to choose to believe that she did have a message for me, not just some confused ramblings. I plan to look for her on our next visit...maybe she'll have another message, or maybe she'll just be asleep.