STILL OCTOBER

       Joey was especially excited to see me today. "Hey, Miss Joy! Boy, do I have a surprise for you, Ma'am!" And he swung wide the big refrigerator door to reveal forty-five sack lunches! Just made my day. Then he began making suggestions about how I might put together the dinner he was preparing… and cooking is way more fun than making sack lunches, so I was ready—even had two sharp knives with me.

       Joey had some pre-cooked, frozen roast beef for tonight's dinner. There were cold pieces of fat all over the meat, so we spent a long while picking it out and remarking about how it would set up housekeeping in a person's veins, cause a stroke, "and make you fat," Joey added. I wish you could have seen his face two hours later when I caught him preparing to pour bacon grease on the green beans. He just hadn't connected the two fats, but I think he's got it now.

       ONE was there today! I don't know how we deserved that blessing, but he brought another story: A man jumped up on a table in the dining room one day and began shouting, "God is coming back! Repent!"

       One asked the man why he was doing that, and the man said the voices in his head had told him to. One told the man that the voices didn't have permission to get up on the table and, furthermore, the shelter wasn't equipped to house them. So the man had to go.

       Early on today, Joey and I heard a rap-tapping at the back door. It was supposed to let us know, by its special rhythm, that it was friendly fire. We ignored it. About 10 minutes later, a familiar face came in thru the front to help out in the kitchen. I don't remember his name, but he's been there a couple of other times, and Joey puts him to work organizing the freezer and storage area. The interesting twist was that he asked Joey several times, "Didn't you hear me knocking? I knocked!"

        Joey lied—he so lied. "I never heard any knocking. I musta been running some machines or something." I wish I had thought to ask Joey if that fellow can read.

      For lunch, Joey had started a batch of macaroni and tuna salad, so he turned that over to me while he did the mopping. Our pre-release group was sparse today—only 6 or 7 folks. Mr. Wilson called me "Beautiful" and reminded me again that he's watching his health/diet/weight. I told him we want him to live a long, long time! And he said, "If I live much longer, it will surprise even me." It was just too true, and not a remark that could bear response. The other group was large, and I saw three people signing in the dining room! They aren't even "together." How did it happen that one hearing-impaired resident had two people to talk to? I wanted to talk to him…

       So Joey and I arranged those big pieces of pre-cooked roast beef in two enormous baking pans. We added potatoes, carrots, and celery. We had put some flour in the beef juice, hoping it would make gravy. After our lunch folks were served, Joey checked on the beef stew. No gravy, just lots of juice. Joey dipped out a pitcher of the juice, I browned some flour, and we made real gravy. Apparently, the residents don't have many opportunities to smell browning flour because I suffered several accusations of "burning down the kitchen."

       Next week Joey suggested we make a pot of soup. I'm all over that!