I live in a very small community in East Texas. Through my volunteer efforts this last year I gained somewhat of a reputation. I offered to babysit for those who needed it. It all started with three children who had down-syndrome. The chief of police, a friend of mine, volunteered me for several assignments involving children including that of a three-day substitute teacher for pre-schoolers. After that, I became known as The Story Lady.
Several times I was called upon to watch children in my home. I have a pet squirrel named Oscar who was raised by a cat named Ashley, which is not that important to this story. Yes, he uses a kitty box. He also uses the doggy door and rides on the back of my 150-pound greyhound, Sweet Pea. Since Ashley passed away Oscar has learned to be a squirrel but prefers to live inside the house in a cat tree on the dryer in the laundry room. This room has three doors. One to the kitchen, one to the master bedroom, and one to the fenced backyard. This is important because it means he can pretty much go anywhere he wants.
I have recently been hospitalized. I am in good health but I am just in for some adjustments. I will be home soon. Today, I was taken back with joy at the outpouring of love from my little community. When the lockdowns started coming in so hard I had started storytime for the kids in the neighborhood. I have a half-circle shaped front porch. All the kids would show up with blankets and proper clothing. They brought their own folding chairs. I would be on my porch and they would be scattered across my front lawn. Then I would start telling a story. I would borrow storylines from The Lone Ranger, Lassie, and even make up some myself. I would always talk for about an hour then I would engage the kids in a story they helped create.
I would start the story and then each kid would get to add to it. It was hilarious some of the places their imaginations would take us. The best part was when Oscar would show up out of the blue. He would scamper out the doggy door, ride Sweet Pea to the fence line, and then hop off and scamper up a big pecan tree. He would go up the pecan tree and out one particular branch that hung just over the top of my porch. He jumped down and then I lowered my hand and he would scamper up to my shoulder. The kids became infatuated with him. They watched me feed him peanuts. He really loved peanuts. He would grab one and then sit on my head and twitch his tail and eat the peanut. Then he would stuff a couple in his cheeks and scamper away by way of the tree back to the fence, Sweet Pea's back, and back into the house. This has gone on now for several weeks. Monday through Friday we had storytime. It always lasted two hours. The first hour was my story. The last hour was theirs. This is time their parents had time to do things without having to take the kids. My audience had grown to about sixty kids.
I loved watching their imaginations come alive. Little boys pulling on little girls pigtails as if no one had ever thought of it before. The day I brought out brooms with strings tied to them and showed them how to ride imaginary horses. I loved doing it. I have been in the hospital for over a week now. Guess what... no storytime.
What have the kids been up to? The local grocery store is sold out of peanuts. The kids are coming by the house and poking peanuts through the fence. The chief is taking care of the dogs. Several of the kids tried to keep up the storytime but it just was not the same without, The Story Lady.
Today, I was moved to a special room. The room was really two rooms divided by glass. I was on one side. Three or four at a time ...the families and kids came by to thank me. The last one made me cry. She had smuggled Oscar into the hospital. Yikes!! No one knew it. They thought she had the "Get Well Soon" scroll all had signed for me. Oscar was so excited to see me he burst out the minute she opened the cage door. She barely opened it and out he came. The nurses yelled, the doctors yelled, and all ran out of the room to get something to catch him with. The kids all laughed. I laughed. Oscar was wearing a mask, sitting on top of my head, waiting for them. The sweet kid who had smuggled him input down the cage and Oscar gave my finger a hug and went inside. They promised to take extra good care of him until I got back home.
I can hardly wait. I will be home this weekend. Who would have thought my retirement would have become such a squirrely adventure.
Tags: Children Pets Seniors
