Pages

Monday, April 22, 2019

       In episode 2 of "Call The Midwife," an old woman is forced to leave her home--a flat filled with so much junk and filth that one could barely walk around.  Besides, she has a nasty wound on her leg and is unable to care for herself.

      As often happens in this series, one of the nurses takes her on beyond nursing and plans to organize her house so that she can stay.

      The nurse befriends the grouchy Miss Millbrooks, and when she understands that it's going to take full-time care to keep the woman alive, she sits with her and helps her accept the inevitable move.

                     "I don't know if I can live in a place that's not my home."

                    "A woman of substance can make a life anywhere," the young nurse replies,  "And you         are a woman of substance."

       Reluctantly, knowing that if she doesn't relent she will be dragged out by the police, Miss Millbrooks puts on clean clothes and a brave face and walks to the ambulance that will deliver her to the nursing home.

       On the next day, the young nurse goes to visit Miss Millbrooks, and finds that she has died in her neat bed in her neat little room.

      "Was it my fault?" she asks the oldest nurse in the house.  "I hate to think of her dying alone."

      The elder nurse responds, "She had friends all around her; she just hadn't had time yet to make their acquaintance."

***


       In the second story in this episode, a young African family arrives in England, excited about becoming citizens and the upcoming birth of their second child.

      The anemia discovered in the mother's pregnancy, and the pains experienced by her husband and son, reveals that the whole family has Sickle Cell disease.

     "Should we go home?" the mother asks her husband.

     "No," he says.  "We will stay.  Home is where your dreams are."

***

      This series always raises universal questions, and demonstrates how neighbors and professionals deal compassionately with each other.  It's my weekly reminder of the power of kindness when times are hard.  


No comments: