Grandma Alice raised a family in Norfolk, Nebraska, for years. But “the kids” moved away and eventually they put her into one of those places for people who are circling the drain. There, she was told when to wake up, when to go to sleep, when to eat and what to eat…. It was all a little bit much for her.
One year for Christmas, she got a digital clock with Big Numbers she could read from across the room. But it bothered her that when the nurses would come to check in on her they would read her clock (it was a very compelling timepiece). So she started turning it toward the wall. She couldn’t read it from across the room any more, but they couldn’t read it at all. Whatever else she had to deal with in life, she still had some control over this.
When she died, I got the clock. It’s over on the bookcase behind me, now. Turned toward the wall.
