“Is it your right foot again?”
Iris Wilde straightened her leg and rolled the ankle. Her narrow beige shoes were fashionable thirty years earlier, and they were good quality. She had believed in buying the best back then, and time had proved her right. Her cream leather handbag rested on the other patient chair. Old-fashioned galoshes rested on the floor underneath, and a long black wool coat with a mink collar was draped carefully on top. If Dr. Hahn hadn’t directed her to provide the woman with several free samples, Lisa would have assumed she was in comfortable circumstances.
“Yes, and it’s worse than it was before. I’m afraid it might be infected.”
“Oh, ouch. There’s nothing worse than an infected toe.” Lisa fell into her breathing pattern. …show more content…
The neighbor who used to shovel for us moved away a few months ago, too. I don’t know how we’ll manage things this winter.”
The doctor clucked sympathetically as he molded a yellow spacer and slid it between her gnarled toes. “That looks right. I want you to walk on it for a few minutes, to make sure it’s comfortable.”
The Christmas theme dominated the patients’ conversations all day. Some of them had families and plans for the holidays, but she wondered about the others. Would they be at the mission house for dinner? Two of the men admitted they were getting too old for the usual decorations. They seemed disappointed, as if a few strings of red and green lights were important to their holiday. Lisa hoped they wouldn’t try. Pete was young and apparently healthy, and he’d fallen off a ladder.
When the waiting and exam rooms were finally emptied, Lisa stacked the day’s files neatly and set them on the doctor’s desk for his review.
“Are you heading home now?” Dr. Hahn closed a medical journal and looked up at her over his reading …show more content…
You saw more patients than usual today.”
“Busy day. It was good to see Iris Wilde. It’s a shame about their Christmas decorations, though.”
Lisa picked up the messy pile of papers in the outbox. “Do they have nice decorations?”
To her surprise, Dr. Hahn snorted. “They are awful. The worst I’ve ever seen. They don’t have a lot of Christmas lights, but they’ve got every kind of inflatable decoration, all lit up, and some of them are musical or animated. I mean every kind - it’s the gaudiest display you can imagine. It’s funny, because she’s such a quiet sort of lady. You have to see it to believe it.”
“I wish I could! And they aren’t doing it this year.”
The doctor shook his head. “Chances are, they won’t be doing it anymore, ever.”
Lisa felt a pang of sadness for the couple. “She said their son is gone?”
“Vietnam.”
“Vietnam?” Her voice squeaked with sudden emotion. The word was so unexpected, so painful that she couldn’t continue.
“There was a younger sister who died of polio, and then the boy was drafted. He was killed in a helicopter crash right before the war ended.”
They had lived with that loss, for nearly 50 years, and still put up Christmas decorations. Big
Iris Wilde straightened her leg and rolled the ankle. Her narrow beige shoes were fashionable thirty years earlier, and they were good quality. She had believed in buying the best back then, and time had proved her right. Her cream leather handbag rested on the other patient chair. Old-fashioned galoshes rested on the floor underneath, and a long black wool coat with a mink collar was draped carefully on top. If Dr. Hahn hadn’t directed her to provide the woman with several free samples, Lisa would have assumed she was in comfortable circumstances.
“Yes, and it’s worse than it was before. I’m afraid it might be infected.”
“Oh, ouch. There’s nothing worse than an infected toe.” Lisa fell into her breathing pattern. …show more content…
The neighbor who used to shovel for us moved away a few months ago, too. I don’t know how we’ll manage things this winter.”
The doctor clucked sympathetically as he molded a yellow spacer and slid it between her gnarled toes. “That looks right. I want you to walk on it for a few minutes, to make sure it’s comfortable.”
The Christmas theme dominated the patients’ conversations all day. Some of them had families and plans for the holidays, but she wondered about the others. Would they be at the mission house for dinner? Two of the men admitted they were getting too old for the usual decorations. They seemed disappointed, as if a few strings of red and green lights were important to their holiday. Lisa hoped they wouldn’t try. Pete was young and apparently healthy, and he’d fallen off a ladder.
When the waiting and exam rooms were finally emptied, Lisa stacked the day’s files neatly and set them on the doctor’s desk for his review.
“Are you heading home now?” Dr. Hahn closed a medical journal and looked up at her over his reading …show more content…
You saw more patients than usual today.”
“Busy day. It was good to see Iris Wilde. It’s a shame about their Christmas decorations, though.”
Lisa picked up the messy pile of papers in the outbox. “Do they have nice decorations?”
To her surprise, Dr. Hahn snorted. “They are awful. The worst I’ve ever seen. They don’t have a lot of Christmas lights, but they’ve got every kind of inflatable decoration, all lit up, and some of them are musical or animated. I mean every kind - it’s the gaudiest display you can imagine. It’s funny, because she’s such a quiet sort of lady. You have to see it to believe it.”
“I wish I could! And they aren’t doing it this year.”
The doctor shook his head. “Chances are, they won’t be doing it anymore, ever.”
Lisa felt a pang of sadness for the couple. “She said their son is gone?”
“Vietnam.”
“Vietnam?” Her voice squeaked with sudden emotion. The word was so unexpected, so painful that she couldn’t continue.
“There was a younger sister who died of polio, and then the boy was drafted. He was killed in a helicopter crash right before the war ended.”
They had lived with that loss, for nearly 50 years, and still put up Christmas decorations. Big