Soup was highlight of day

Potato soup. That’s all it took to make my mother happy. I didn’t even know she liked potato soup.
It had been the usual long day. We made it to yet another doctor’s appointment. We had left early because I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going. We arrived with plenty of time to spare.
After a half hour or so of waiting, I noticed a nurse running into one of the other rooms. I thought, “This can’t be good.” Then another nurse ran after her. Soon they hustled back to where they had come from and returned pushing a machine. The first nurse went to the counter and told the girl there that a doctor was needed immediately.
The doctor didn’t actually run but he walked faster than anyone I had ever seen. A few minutes later a fire truck pulled up in front of the building. Next came the ambulance. People were still hurrying in and out of the waiting room. Then a tiny lady in a wheelchair was loaded into the ambulance. I thanked the powers that be that it wasn’t my mother who was having the problem and sent up a prayer for the unknown woman.
Well over an hour after our scheduled appointment we were finally ushered into a room. We sat there for what seemed like forever. Mom kept asking me to take her home and bring her back some other time. I understand her impatience but was not about to leave. The doctor finally came in and checked out her knee. He said it was healing nicely and told us to come back in two weeks. He also encouraged us to cancel the future appointment if her knee kept on looking better.
After we finally got out of there I called my husband and told him I wouldn’t be home until the next morning. My vision with my new contacts still isn’t what I think it should be and I was uncomfortable driving after dark. The fact that it is the time of year when deer get suicidal added to my apprehension.
Mom continued to complain about any and everything. I stopped for supper at a place my husband and I like. I ordered fish and chips and she wanted the potato soup. I told her I was buying and she could have anything she wanted. She insisted on potato soup.
When she tasted it, she proclaimed that it was the best potato soup she had ever had. She continued to rave about it through dinner. When she found out that it was also free pie Wednesday, she was even happier. It has been a long time since I have seen her smile so much.
We made it back to her house shortly after sunset. Then we played cards. I won the first game but only because her math skills aren’t quite as good as they used to be and she gave me credit for points I didn’t really earn. She won the second game and we called it a day.
As usual, I tossed and turned on her couch all night. I had set an alarm but woke up every couple of hours to check the time. Early the next morning I got dressed to leave. She was awake and I told her goodbye. She said she was going back to sleep.
As I drove home I wondered about the potato soup. I don’t remember ever having it when I was growing up. When had she developed an affinity for it? Was it the novelty of having something different that made her so happy? Was it the attention? Was it the fact that it was free pie Wednesday and she enjoys getting anything that is free?
I may never know. This morning when I talked to her, she was back to complaining about any and everything. As long as she is complaining, I know she is her usual self.
Still, I long for her to be as happy as she was while eating that potato soup. I wonder if I can get the recipe.Potato soup. That’s all it took to make my mother happy. I didn’t even know she liked potato soup.
It had been the usual long day. We made it to yet another doctor’s appointment. We had left early because I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going. We arrived with plenty of time to spare.
After a half hour or so of waiting, I noticed a nurse running into one of the other rooms. I thought, “This can’t be good.” Then another nurse ran after her. Soon they hustled back to where they had come from and returned pushing a machine. The first nurse went to the counter and told the girl there that a doctor was needed immediately.
The doctor didn’t actually run but he walked faster than anyone I had ever seen. A few minutes later a fire truck pulled up in front of the building. Next came the ambulance. People were still hurrying in and out of the waiting room. Then a tiny lady in a wheelchair was loaded into the ambulance. I thanked the powers that be that it wasn’t my mother who was having the problem and sent up a prayer for the unknown woman.
Well over an hour after our scheduled appointment we were finally ushered into a room. We sat there for what seemed like forever. Mom kept asking me to take her home and bring her back some other time. I understand her impatience but was not about to leave. The doctor finally came in and checked out her knee. He said it was healing nicely and told us to come back in two weeks. He also encouraged us to cancel the future appointment if her knee kept on looking better.
After we finally got out of there I called my husband and told him I wouldn’t be home until the next morning. My vision with my new contacts still isn’t what I think it should be and I was uncomfortable driving after dark. The fact that it is the time of year when deer get suicidal added to my apprehension.
Mom continued to complain about any and everything. I stopped for supper at a place my husband and I like. I ordered fish and chips and she wanted the potato soup. I told her I was buying and she could have anything she wanted. She insisted on potato soup.
When she tasted it, she proclaimed that it was the best potato soup she had ever had. She continued to rave about it through dinner. When she found out that it was also free pie Wednesday, she was even happier. It has been a long time since I have seen her smile so much.
We made it back to her house shortly after sunset. Then we played cards. I won the first game but only because her math skills aren’t quite as good as they used to be and she gave me credit for points I didn’t really earn. She won the second game and we called it a day.
As usual, I tossed and turned on her couch all night. I had set an alarm but woke up every couple of hours to check the time. Early the next morning I got dressed to leave. She was awake and I told her goodbye. She said she was going back to sleep.
As I drove home I wondered about the potato soup. I don’t remember ever having it when I was growing up. When had she developed an affinity for it? Was it the novelty of having something different that made her so happy? Was it the attention? Was it the fact that it was free pie Wednesday and she enjoys getting anything that is free?
I may never know. This morning when I talked to her, she was back to complaining about any and everything. As long as she is complaining, I know she is her usual self.
Still, I long for her to be as happy as she was while eating that potato soup. I wonder if I can get the recipe.