I needed a couple more things for my trip so we headed out, excitement building with every mile. We both hobbled across the parking lot upon arriving and pushing open the door to the shop the scent of new clothes assailed us. Mom, a confirmed professional shopaholic, was like a kid in a toy store. Her beeline to the closest rack of clothes was a sight to behold. Who needs a cane when you can just go from rack to rack?
“You go ahead; I’ll catch up,” she cried. So seeing the need to peruse the goods in her eyes I went on to find my purchases-in-waiting.
It was lovely. I found some things, she found some things. We held things up to gauge opinions. Then we headed to the fitting room. A floormat is usually bigger than the cubicle provided. We both squeezed in. Mom was taking shirts off the hangers for me to try on, and hanging back the rejects. While she sat there she had her momentary rest stop, so it worked well, supplying the energy needed to keep gittin’ up!
Our goods selected, the cards made their plastic appearance and we were out the door. Crossing the parking lot once again new smells beckoned. What’s that? Chinese, you say? Where’s it coming from? Behind us to the left.
It was all I could do to keep us in a straight line – difficult because one of us was looking back and to the left.
We moved the car closer to our destination, went in to the King-Something-or-Other Chinese place, and ordered up. It was mid-afternoon. Our excuse was that I needed to eat, I had only had breakfast. Works for me so justification demanded action. OMG! The soup was so hot! So we took our time, letting it cool down. Mom’s spring roll was perfect, if a little messy; and I brought the shrimp toast to Dan (he’s like a puppy over our doggie bags).
Finally full, I give Mom and hand up and we hobble out, reeking of Chinese breath and grinning ear to ear. Mission accomplished.
Next stop: Farm Fresh or whatever it was on the other side of the parking lot. We moved the car, hobbled in, grabbed bananas and Gatorade as Mom’s newest meds, and got out of Dodge.
Goodness! It was great to be back on the road heading home. Then we remembered Pokety Bridge is being repaired. We opted to go Fentress to Land of Promise instead of going all the way around Pungo…. New scenery.
It was a long half-day, an eventful one, and an energizing one. The next day I checked on her – she sounded great, said she was fine.
It was all that exercise (and shopping
- we know the deal)!
