Endearing

[schlomo]

Many of the residents at the last nursing/rehab facility that I attended (marking my sixth month recovery from intestinal surgeries) had strange habits. One woman spoke gibberish to her imaginary friends while she obsessively stroked every hair of her beloved, bedraggled dog-eared teddy bear. Another woman devoted much of her time methodically embracing two stuffed animals from The Lion King, Simba and Kiara. She didn’t talk to them. Instead, she groomed them with precise strokes.

I, on the other hand, was proud to have more constructive things to do: checking a few news websites, following the baseball playoffs, watching thrillers on Netflix, and reading historical romance novels.

But last week I had an epiphany.  At one point in my stay at Queen’s hospital, I was blessed with two stuffed animals; one represented courage and the other, gratitude. Occasionally I latched onto them with the fervor displayed by the two women who doted on their stuffed animals. I am not ashamed to believe that cuddling with a stuffed animal has been a morale booster for me. And I now salute the two women whose affection for their stuffed animals gives them so much satisfaction despite their infirmities.