The Patient

They tell me Mrs. Simpson was a small, soft spoken 90-pound woman without family. And that’s how this story begins.

The lonely elderly woman was watering her plants one afternoon when she had her big accident. She slipped and fell off her porch. Hers wasn’t a tall porch, thankfully. But at her age, it didn’t have to be. The injury was severe. She was 86.

You fall off your porch at 86, they start throwing around terms like “celebration of life.”

When Mrs. Simpson awoke, she was in the hospital, eyes blinking. She saw medical people standing over her, smiling.

Mrs. Simpson’s first hoarse words were: “Will someone please…?”

Everyone gathered around for the rest.

“…Please feed my cats?”

This made the doctors laugh. They all exchanged looks and said, “Isn’t there someone in your family who can do that for you?”

“Got no family.”

“How about friends?”

She shook her head.

“Well, You aren’t leaving the hospital, Mrs. Simpson. Not after all the bones you’ve broken.”

“…And I can’t remember if I left the oven on.”

“Try to calm down, Mrs. Simpson.”

“…I need my toothbrush, and the trash goes out tomorrow morning…”

So a few nurses got together to send someone to the woman’s house to do these things. They watered the plants, checked the oven, packed her a overnight bag, and someone even took care of the old woman’s cats.

After a few days, Mrs. Simpson had been transferred to a rehab, where she had all her belongings, including her prodigious collection of paperback romance novels, her big balls of yarn and her knitting needles.

Over the next months, Mrs. Simpson became the darling of the rehab facility and the favorite patient of many staffers. This easygoing 90-pound woman without family.

Often she could be seen sitting upright in bed, working on a garter-stitch pattern, peering over her reading glasses at her visitors.

She had many visitors. A dozen or more each day. They were all people who worked at the rehab. Many of the old woman’s callers could be seen baring their souls to Mrs. Simpson, while the old woman gently looped yarn around her needles and listened.

“The staff just fell in love with her,” remembers one nurse.

Some employees told the old woman about surly boyfriends, marriage problems, or wayward children. Sometimes younger visitors found themselves asking life advice. She helped one young physician ask a woman to marry him. She helped an orderly figure out that he wanted to get his college degree.

She gave one nurse words that helped her find the courage to leave an abusive marriage.

“She truly helped me. She was there to let me vent and just talk it out. She really did care about me.”

Some asked gardening questions. Sometimes people asked for spiritual guidance. Mrs. Simpson even attempted to teach a few of the young rehab workers how to knit. She held communal knitting lessons from her room. Two dollars per student. A girl’s got to make a living.

Mrs. Simpson liked to read her Bible and her Billy Graham books. Although not necessarily in that order. She talked about angels a lot. She claimed she had seen them before. Some nurses remember that Mrs. Simpson prayed for their families with the aid of a handwritten prayer list she kept by her bed.

And on the day that Mrs. Simpson was well enough to go home, the staff threw a party. They wheeled her out of the rehab and the old gal was carrying more stuff than she’d arrived with. Bouquets, containers of cookies, stuffed animals, a floppy hat, blankets, cards.

People lining the halls applauded as she passed by. She greeted every well-wisher, kissing every hand, thanking every employee by name.

When Mrs. Simpson arrived back home, a few of the off-duty nurses were waiting for her, dressed in their civies. They had arranged a caregiving schedule with Mrs. Simpson’s neighbors to water the plants, feed her cats, and cook for her.

Her doctors stayed in touch, too, and could often be seen making regular house visits after hours, checking on her.

“She became like our project. She helped us; we helped her.”

And now for the part you knew was coming.

After a few years, Mrs. Simpson’s health declined. She had no family members to attend her funeral visitation, no next of kin. But here’s the thing: the chapel was crowded nonetheless. It was full of medical staffers.

They were all there. Rehab nurses, janitors, orderlies, candy stripers, cafeteria workers, neighbors, doctors.

“I loved her. I was in a bad place, I needed a way out of an abusive marriage, she helped me find it, she listened to me. She was just… I don’t know. Good people. That’s how we all felt about her. Guess you don’t forget the people in your life who made you feel like you were loved.”

No. You really don’t.

27 comments

  1. Kay Williams - July 6, 2021 7:47 am

    So she helped the candy strippers as well? God love her.

    Reply
    • Kendal - July 6, 2021 12:14 pm

      😉

      Reply
  2. Norma Den - July 6, 2021 8:32 am

    God bless her dear soul. I’m sure she’s busy knitting Angel wings.

    Reply
  3. Christian Vowell - July 6, 2021 10:51 am

    Danged allergies have got my eyes leaking.

    Reply
    • Joan moore - July 6, 2021 11:00 am

      And we’ll never forget the young writer who brought these stories to us either.

      Reply
      • Karen Holderman - July 6, 2021 11:57 am

        I think she was one of God’s earthly angels. 💖

        Reply
  4. Debbie g - July 6, 2021 11:17 am

    You are right. We never forget the people that show us love and you are with that group Sean Love to all

    Reply
  5. Suzi - July 6, 2021 11:32 am

    May I have the heart to see and respond to the “Mr. and Mrs. Simpson’s” in my world 🙏🏻

    Reply
  6. Christopher Smith - July 6, 2021 11:53 am

    There are angels among us. Sometimes we know and feel them. Sometimes we don’t but they’re there! Thanks Sean.

    Reply
  7. CHARALEEN WRIGHT - July 6, 2021 12:10 pm

    Reply
  8. Nan - July 6, 2021 12:33 pm

    I want to go to the rehab/nursing center she was sent to…

    Reply
  9. Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder - July 6, 2021 12:52 pm

    Dearest Sean,
    A great story with a lot of depth!
    It is worthwhile still for the younger generations to visit and listen to an old soul with a lot of wisdom and life experience.
    Hope her cats lived on as well.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    Reply
  10. David R Aday - July 6, 2021 1:18 pm

    Great story, but I had to laugh at the “candy-strippers” line. I’m thinking one P, since two means they take off their clothes! We all know what you meant, Sean! Semper Fi

    Reply
  11. Amanda - July 6, 2021 1:52 pm

    “Guess you don’t forget the people in your life who made you feel like you were loved.” Amen.

    Reply
  12. Cathy - July 6, 2021 2:01 pm

    What an inspiring story. She was a people person and as a result all of these folks were drawn to her and lived her. It was a win win for all. She was sincerely interested in them and they never forgot that and she was gifted with their presence at her celebration of life. She was smiling in heaven😇

    Reply
  13. Mary Ann - July 6, 2021 2:24 pm

    Always, always, always an uplifting read, Sean of the South. Thank you. I want to be Mrs. Simpson when I grow up.

    Reply
  14. Chaz Cone - July 6, 2021 2:48 pm

    As always, I love your stuff, Sean. Pretty sure it was “candy stripers” not “strippers” but maybe I’ve been in the wrong hospitals. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Bob E - July 6, 2021 3:06 pm

    Mrs Simpson was/is an angel. She’s undoubtedly still helping from her new home.

    Reply
  16. Johnny Payne - July 6, 2021 3:23 pm

    Wonderful article which renews our faith in our fellow man. This lifts our hearts in the human race.

    Reply
  17. Tom Wallin - July 6, 2021 3:48 pm

    Thanks for warming my heart and bringing a tear to my eye.

    Reply
  18. John Larry Johnson - July 6, 2021 4:22 pm

    Great story!! But, I want to know how you know about a garter stitch as related to knitting?

    Reply
  19. Lucinda Harding - July 6, 2021 4:33 pm

    Your stories always inspire me. Keep giving your gift. Some of the people I cherish most are not related but they are my family. ❤️

    Reply
  20. Stacey Wallace - July 6, 2021 4:41 pm

    Sean, thanks for making my day. My grandmother, Mother Mac, lived to be 104. She once told me years ago, that antiques were worth a lot of money. Then she said, “Older people are like antiques, so they’re worth a lot, too.” She was right, and she was our family treasure.

    Reply
  21. Linda Moon - July 6, 2021 9:00 pm

    Celebration of LIFE….let’s do that every day. Let’s not wait for the ending of it. We can celebrate now and AFTER the end, too. Thank you, Sean Dietrich, for sharing Mrs. Simpson’s love story today. “Feed my kitties” just might be my last wish as I lay dying. They needed lots of love years ago when someone couldn’t keep them, and lots of love has been shared with my two fluffy furballs. I would’ve loved Mrs. Simpson, too.

    Reply
  22. MAM - July 7, 2021 12:13 am

    Definite leaky eyes today. Must be the rain. What a beautiful story! We all know a Mrs. Simpson and we know they will have angel wings!

    Reply
  23. Tom - July 7, 2021 12:34 am

    People probably won’t remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.

    Reply
  24. Rhonda - July 7, 2021 1:53 pm

    Big smile from this one. Good job

    Reply

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