It should have been a no brainer when I answered the phone last Friday and it was a gal pal bawling about her boyfriend dumping her over the phone. I should have said, "No habla Ingles!" and hung up. But no; I listened and my heart was so sad that I said, foolishly, "You need a change of environment. Why not come here for a day or two?"
She left today. Six days later.
During this week, she didn't bathe for five days. She cried for six. Seriously. When we picked her up from the airport she was bawling. When we dropped her off, she was still bawling. Her crying could be heard To The Barn. Even Clara, who is the most empathetic gal, was begging us to take her somewhere and set her out, just so she could have a break. I wouldn't take her, I replied, unless I got to stay, too.
She refused to eat more than a few bites a day. She left food all over the house That She Didn't Eat.
Her responses to any question was through clenched teeth and were monosyllabic grunts. She never said thank you, kiss my foot, or thanks for the memories, even when we set her out at the airport. And, yes, I did stop at the departure door and didn't throw her out as I threatened to the Mister in whispers last night.
After we set her out (okay, I confess, I did burn rubber just a bit) the Mister and I rode along in silence for thirty minutes. Then, he looked at me and smiled, "Nicest thirty minutes this week!" I giggled. "Okay, if I told you that when I lay down on Wednesday that I may have whispered to God 'if I die tonight, it's okay -- at least the pain will stop' would you think it was terrible?" He burst out laughing and laughed until tears rolled down his face.
"How about a milkshake? I think we have earned it." And no one cried All the Way Home.
Moral: No good deed goes unpunished.
Dear Matty,
ReplyDeleteNow there's a motto I've not heard before! I'm sure that someone in the Great Somewhere, you have lots of gold stars by your name for the last six days of suffering. :)
Love,
Marqueta
Hi Matty, wow girl, I am really feeling for you. I have been through this too. It was so incredibly draining. But I have to say, you saw through it for what it was, so much more quickly than I did! :) I kept making excuses for her in my mind and let it go on way too long. It was a big lesson learned. I like how Marqueta put it, I think you have earned some "gold stars" by your name. It reminds me of the verse that says "You will be shown mercy to the degree that you show it to others." You were kind and merciful, even though she wasn't capable, for whatever reason of showing you the proper respect and appreciation for your kindness. But your motive was loving and I think that really means something special. Get some rest and have a lovely, sunny, cheerful, bright, chirpy blue birdy Sunday tomorrow! Love Delisa :)
ReplyDeleteHard thing to comfort the broken-hearted. Makes me glad that I'm too old to have girlfriends that have boyfriends! Well,you did a good thing, friend.
ReplyDeleteHehehe, I was thinking as I read this that at least you are receiving gold stars in Heaven!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even like having my own children around when they were in that kind of a mood. ;)
I just love how you make those 'icky' moments in your life wonderful fodder for your blogging friends to read and chuckle over. You do have a fine sense of hee-haw that tickles me every time. To my way of thinking, if we can find the funny side of things, we'll always get through the crap of life without so much of it sticking to our souls!
ReplyDeleteSure hope that milkshake slurped was a whopper!
OoooHhh My.... You will think twice about it next time huh?? Wow! SO have you heard from The Ungrateful house guest since you dropped her off or are you to afraid to answer the phone??
ReplyDelete