Monday, July 09, 2007

This weekend I went to visit a co-worker who was recovering from knee surgery. He was in the rehab wing of the hospital. We were chatting and looking at cards when a nurse brought his roommate in - a 24 year-old man who'd had a major stroke.
I was very uncomfortable with this, representing so much devastation to such a young person.
Then the nurse came back and said to him, "ok honey, let's check your blood sugar". My friend lowered his voice and said, "he's got real bad diabetes - that's what caused it".
I felt like I was going to burst into tears. Why, when I was having such a good day, did I have to be reminded of the devastation that db can cause? It just wasn't fair.
I calmed down and traveled through the rest of the weekend with the image of that man hanging around the edges of my mind, as I tried to stuff it away in a back file.
This morning on the bus I thought about my What Helps? list, but didn't feel very enthusiastic. One of the items was "be nice to someone". Well, that opportunity probably wasn't gonna happen at work. We are all covering for people who are on vacation and everyone is in a general state of crabbiness.
The day ended and I was browsing through the grocery store. I saw that raspberries were at a low price - 2 6 ounce trays for $4. That's about as cheap as they'll get, so I put two trays in my basket.
As I was leaving te store, a rumpled street person said, "ma'am, can you spare some change?". I told him no, but he might like some raspberries and handed him one of the boxes. He carefully opened it and said "have they been washed?" Well, no, I didn't think they had as I'd just bought them. I said "let's go into Starbucks and get some water". He told me that water cost a quarter and he had already asked them for some.
I went in and got a big glass of water (yes, for a quarter) and we sat down at a wire table and carefully poured it over the berries. I left him seated with a big craggy grin on his face, popping them in his mouth one by one.

I got home with one carton, and that was certainly enough for me.



And, by then, I'd forgotten about the bothersome chatter in my head.


PS - This post was going to be titled, Giving the Raspberries but Blooger wouldn't let me type in a title.

92 comments:

Donna said...

I love that title! Too bad you weren't able to post it that way. But what a great story. I'm always afraid to talk to people like that. Good job for being nice like it said to do today.

The poor 24 year old who had the stroke - what a shame. So young to have something like this happen. I will put him on my prayer list.

meanderings said...

Hurray for you! Sharing your rasberries was truly nice.

Christine said...

That was so nice of you! Is the syringe visible in the first picture on purpose?

Major Bedhead said...

Mmm, raspberries. What a lovely thing to give to that man.

Minnesota Nice said...

Ladies, that you all.
We have a lot of people begging in my neighborhood and over half of them are teenagers. Most of the time I don't give anyone anything and really haven't a clue why I chose this man. I just kind of "happened".
Megan, I did not notice the syringe, or my blood pressure monitor in the background until after the post was published. That table is in a side nook off my kitchen where everything ends up in piles.
I think it was an important message to me that "yes, this is who I am....." (and it can stay in the picture.)

Anonymous said...

You're awesome. I love that you did that. :)

Dee said...

What a lovely gesture, well done.

Chrissie in Belgium said...

YOU ARE SO SWEET! Thank you for sharing - I need to hear about good people. ANNNNNND - yes I got the magazine from you - 15 minutes ago Even an article on ketones! Is the article good??????

Scott K. Johnson said...

That was a great story. Thanks for sharing!

Molly said...

Kindness and generousity sure do make our world a better place to live. Thanks for yours.

Anonymous said...

I can't tell you how much your approach to this disease has helped me. I appreciate you're voice and sensitivity and thoughtfulness so much!

Bernard said...

Minnesota Nice

Raspberries are such a wonderful fruit. My kids would consume one container each if I let them. I'll bet you made that man's day.

Sorry you were so shaken by the man in hospital. That must have been terrible.

Christine said...

Hey MN,

In case you didn't make the connection, I'm the same person as who writes at www.diabetesdaily.com/blogs/fadingtogray now.

Anyways, what a scary reaction you had to Lantus! That's incredible!

My reaction was much tamer. I basically get welts and swelling and hives and itching a couple inches around where I inject it.

Alex said...

That was the cutest post I could have read at 6:00 in the morning. You have a kind heart in a sometimes cold world.

I want to say that I know how it goes to have a diabetic downer nag at the back (and sometimes the front) of your mind. I know it can be distracting. You just gotta keep your head up.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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