When I am stressed, overworked and beset by deadlines of every kind, I head to Assisted Living and the comfort of real time.
This tends to confound my friends who think that such a visit would only add to my stress, but I find it to be not only peaceful and relaxed but one of the few places where my entrance gives rise to unalloyed pleasure…even if they get my name wrong.
I begin the neck massages.
Ah, this feels so good.
You have strong hands.
Thank you.
Do you do this for a living?
Can you come back tomorrow?
And always I hold in my heart the thrilling responses from two gentle souls who have left us. Jane, You have such happy hands! And Gloria, Do you tuck your wings in a handkerchief when you aren’t here?
Are you staying for lunch?
Who could resist? I sit down for a cup of coffee. Twenty minutes later I return to work, happy and refreshed.