Mr. Henry was the one admitted as a patient, but the nurses took care of Miss Alice, too. Mr. Henry had to have been in his late forties when he married simple-minded little Miss Alice, a girl of fourteen. Nowadays, that would have been a case for the courts, but when it happened back in the sixties, there was no one to speak for Miss Alice. They’d been married more than thirty years when I knew them and appeared to dote on each other. Miss Alice never voluntarily left his side, except to go down to the courtyard to bum cigarettes from patients and staff smoking in the long ago days when hospitals had smoking areas. Sometimes she even talked folks out of a little money. After a successful run, she’d bring a couple back up to him to smoke in the room. Miss Alice ended almost every conversation with, “I love Mr. Henry
Knowing Miss Alice didn’t have money to eat in the cafeteria, the staff always slipped her the “extra tray.” She also knew her way around the kitchen and helped herself to popsicles, ice cream, juice, and milk for herself and Mr. Henry. Over the three or four years I cared for Mr. Henry, I saw him get sicker and sicker. Though he loved Miss Alice, he was a horny old-goat. Staff had to dance to keep from being patted and pinched, but he was savvy enough not to do it in front of Miss Alice. She told us she’d whipped a couple of women over Mr. Henry. I, for one, didn’t want to get patted and “whipped.” One day, he had a seizure. We initiated resuscitation and worked to get him back. The first sign of success was when he squeezed a nurse’s breast while she was trying to get his blood pressure. We felt pretty sure he was back to normal, then.
Even though he was an unapologetic, old lecher, we were fond of Mr. Henry, probably because we loved Miss Alice. One day, I heard Mr. Henry had died. I’ve wondered so many times how Miss Alice fared after his death.
She loved Mr. Henry.
It’s been raining all day (washing away the snow) and just when i thought the sun came out, I realized it was still raining… it was your story warming up my heart. : )
LikeLike
You have such a way with words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are such an inspiration.
LikeLike
What a niche thing to say.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so sad and sweet at the same time. I now wonder what happened to Miss Alice.
LikeLike
I never knew. She was such a sweetheart.
LikeLike
My sister is a geriatric nurse and often has to fend of old goats. It is worse when they suffer dementia.
Poor Alice. I hope she had children and grandchildren to care for her.
LikeLike
The imagination is the last to go. She didn’t have children.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor Alice! I hope she had a lot of friends, but it doesn’t sound hopeful when she spent all her time caring for Mr Henry. I have seen a lot of women like her, as I used to live in Australia’s retirement capital, the Gold Coast. Some get a second wind and become part of a huge and active social group, and some become ‘crazy’ and lonely little ghost women.
LikeLike
I imagine she was pretty isolated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sad, isn’t it? One of the benefits of a large family is that there is always someone prepared for a visit and a gossip.
LikeLike
I love that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cute story, Beth. Touching, humorous…..a perfect read for the end of a not so perfect day…thx for the smile…. 😉
LikeLike
Thx.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Linda…i mean Linda. Sorry about that….😐
LikeLike
I wonder how she fared too. What a story! ❤
LikeLike
I never knew.
LikeLike
Linda you are a great story teller. I try never to miss a post from you. Thank you for sharing, your offerings bring sunshine when the clouds are looming overhead. ☺☺
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are so welcome. Truth from my heart. ☺
LikeLike
He really was an opportunist, wasn’t he !!
LikeLike
Yes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Nutsrok.
LikeLike
It’s hard to one up you Beth. Pardon the pun.It just slipped out. Oops there I go again!
LikeLike
Eeyewwww!
LikeLike
Wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole.
LikeLike
What have you got against us horny old goats?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try not to get anything at all against you if I can help it!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are such a softie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, I know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a fabulous piece of writing! I hope Miss Alice did okay.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I hope so, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a touching story (no pun intended. LOL) except for the “dirty ol’ man” part. They sound like a darling couple. I hope Miss Alice found a new Mr. to love and to be loved back. She deserves it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
She was a sweetheart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perfect! Thanks for telling it like it really is, not as we want it to be. I so look forward to your posts. Please keep writing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really appreciate this. I wondered if anyone would enjoy this.
LikeLike
Poor little thing. I also hope she found a nice man to take care of and love, one who loved her back. Great story. Girls used to marry for security. My mother was fifteen when she married her first husband in 1916. He was a friend of her father’s. He was about thirty and died when she was twenty. —- Suzanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my gosh. Please tell me more about that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She was 20 with a baby (my half-brother) and told her husband she didn’t want him going away on trips and not telling her where. She told him she’d leave if he didn’t stay home more. He took a handgun and pointed it at her. She asked him if he shot her, who’d take care of the baby? He turned the gun on his own head and shot. She was a 20-year-old widow with a child. His family members came and got his bags as he’d just come back from a trip. She never knew what he’d been doing on those trips. Five years later she married my dad. —- Suzanne
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, what a story! You could write a book about that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness! What a horrible thing to have happened .
LikeLike
Ah what a sweet with a tinge of sadness. Poor Alice. She will be a bit lost without her lecherous Mr. Henry.
LikeLike
I know. I still think of her a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I nice story about life and its simple pleasures, Ibeth. Thanks for sharing.
Leslie
LikeLike
So glad you enjoyed. I loved Miss Alice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A sweet story, I’m sure nurses have a lot of those. Thanks. 💘
LikeLike
The best part of nursing was the stories, good and bad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Darling story!
LikeLike
Thanks. She was a sweetheart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do too!
LikeLike
Sad and sweet. I hope she found somebody else to love and who loved her back
LikeLike
Me, too!
LikeLike