Wednesday

Again slept poorly, but got up about 6:00. Lorraine called me at 7 am, as she's been doing lately. I don't mind the hour--I never sleep that late--but her constant complaints about Michelle, management, and all the forces of the world dedicated to her demise are getting to be a bore.

I spent some time preparing to see Bobbi (real name, Barbara) R., a fellow T.O.P.S. member, who comes from Brooklyn and used to spend summers in Ventnor. She's a longtime member of my chapter of T.O.P.S., but recently broke her leg in two places. When Sharon asked if I wanted to go see her today, I thought it would be fun. Was it? See later.

After breakfast, I went over to Von's for a few items, then found a gift bag for the puzzle book I had gotten for Bobbi. I hadn't had a chance to buy a card, so wrote a silly little verse. It's pretty bad, but she got a kick out of it:

B e better, Bobbi

O r I'll cry,

B ecause we want you

B ack--oh, my!

I n a group that has no flops--

    Yes, of course, I'm talking T.O.P.S.!  

Had lunch, then Sharon and Lewis picked me up at 1:00 and we drove to Oakmont in Oxnard, an independent living facility, to see Bobbi. It's a nice one, only four years old, and actually, I like it better than The Townhomes. Bobbi and her husband live there in a pleasant, two-bedroom apartment with a surprisingly large kitchen and big windows with nice views. The three of us sat down and I foundt that Sharon and Bobbi both sew, plus B. makes jewelry. S. gave B. an enormous amount of beads, pearls, strings, clasps, earring parts and other pieces--all brand new--with which to make jewelry, which Bobbi does, also. Sharon then  proceeded to talk non-stop for the almost three hours we were there. 

That's not much of an exaggeration; she went from elaborating about her children and grandchildren, her parents' divorce and subsequent three-marriages each, a long treatise on her high school years, her career as a switch-board operator, and so on and on. If I had been by myself, I would have made any excuse to leave, but I was trapped, so it was 5:00 before Lewis came back to pick us up. 

I was surprised that Bobbi didn't offer us anything--water or anything else--the whole time we were there. She seemed to enjoy Sharon's endless narrative, so maybe my agonized reaction is just because I've gotten cranky in my old age. 

I took a picture of the three of us, but it turned out very badly and I just didn't care enough to do it over:

Here are Bobbi and Sharon as we waited for Lewis to pick us up:

Incidentally, Bobbi is always nicely dressed and nicely groomed at the meetings. She's less so here, I think because of her leg and, also, her husband has health problems. She's two or three years younger than I am and Sharon is seventy-something. 

Free at last, free at last, I didn't get home until almost 6:00. Made a turkey stir-fry for dinner and have another serving left for tonight. Rosa texted me to check on our lunch date for today. I'm looking forward to seeing her at 12:30 at Dargan's.