Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2018-34

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IN THIS ISSUE

• In this Heroic Story, a Romanian woman helps a hospital patient
• Jean Sterling remembers fires and hurricanes in Florida
• Tom Telfer looks back at memorable events in 1954
• Marilyn Magid forwards another blackboard quote
• Catherine Nesbitt shares a story of a helpful wife
• Irene Harvalias shows the differences in clinics
• Irene also suggests an interesting video

Jackie Walton sends this Heroic Story from Romania:

WE´LL OPERATE TODAY!

"Who can I send to the hospital with you?" asked my worried housemate, "Dorni." I needed to consult a surgeon to see if I needed surgery for appendicitis. I´m in Romania working for Romanian orphans, with Heart to Heart International Ministries (H2H). We work in a hospital for abandoned babies, playing with, feeding, and changing them. And we have transition house teaching trades to boys and girls too old for the orphanage.

Dorni wouldn´t send an American to the hospital alone. Navigating language in a foreign hospital is daunting - but she´d promised to babysit her sick niece. I suggested my 24-year-old, brown-haired, blue-eyed friend "Stefania," who´d translated for H2H for three years, and was working part-time while finishing nursing school. She knew the hospitals, and had a flexible schedule. Stephania immediately agreed to meet me.

My visit didn´t turn out as expected. The doctor felt my stomach, asked questions, and declared, "This is acute appendicitis; we´ll operate today!" I was taken aback, having expected nothing more than tests and at worst, scheduling surgery "eventually."

Numb, shaken, and a bit scared, I leaned on Stefania to help figure out what to do. She made phone calls, informed my family, resolved money issues, and talked with nurses. She returned to her nearby home and brought overnight things for us both. She held my hand when I came back from surgery while I tried to recover.

That was only the beginning. The next two days Stefania was almost constantly at my side. That first night all I had to do was make eye contact and she came running to see what I needed. She held my head as I threw up (sometimes all over the bed or on her), gave me sips of water and tea - she was always there. She called the nurses for painkillers, and held my hand while I moaned in pain waiting for them to kick in.

She helped pick me up so the nurse could change my sheet, pulled my hair back and kissed my forehead. When they said the next day that I could get up and walk, she supported me in my hobbling, held my IV, and smoothed my blankets when I returned.

Stefania also jumped right in to help my roommates. She helped them get to the bathroom or to sit up, called nurses for them, and rearranged their pillows. She praised their attempts to walk, poured tea and water, ran errands, and encouraged everyone. The nurses called her for help moving patients, etc.

Many people made this experience the best it could be. The doctors and nurses took good care of me and tried to help me feel not so far away from home. During my convalescence my Romanian friends and co-workers called, cooked, visited, and otherwise cared for me, and I am so thankful to them. However, Stefania was in the right place at the right time, and gave in abundance.

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CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling writes about people responding to disasters in Florida: We had some help after hurricanes, but this story reminded me of the help we got during the fires in 1998. I remember we had firefighters from all over, including Canada. I really felt for those guys as it was VERY warm here (in addition to heat the fires were putting out). One thing I remember is that the guys from other places expected something green to not burn. However, here palm trees are green but full of palm oil and burn quite readily.

I remember a call went out for clean socks and underwear for the firefighters - also for eye drops to soothe their eyes. Being a swimmer, I could relate to that and brought over a bunch of eye drops. Restaurants and churches provided meals, and a fitness centre provided massages for the firefighters.

We have a son who lives in the middle of the state, and he asked if I would like to go up there. However, the east-west roads were all closed as well as all of Interstate 95 in north and central Florida. So I had to opt out - said I would go to the beachside and stay in a hotel if it came to that. The hotels were giving good prices to locals.

The worst hurricane I remember was Francis. It was only a category one, but it was HUGE, and stayed parked over Florida for two whole days. I really got sick of that storm. We bought hurricane shutters after that but didn´t get to use them until Matthew and Irma.

In answer to my question about receiving junk mail, Jean writes: I can´t say I´ve gotten much junk mail lately - even in my spam folder. However, I have been absolutely inundated with junk phone calls. I´m on the "do not call list" which worked quite well for about a year but is now totally useless. Also, political calls were exempt, so you can imagine! Some of the calls tout a particular candidate, while most these days seem to be about taking a survey. Election day is in November, so October promises to be a really nasty month for phone calls. I might have to disconnect my phone!

Ed. Note: I do not answer my phone if I don´t recognize the caller´s name or number. I figure that if it is someone I know, or if it is really important, the caller will leave a message. I have had as many as 25 unanswered calls with no messages left, though at the moment I have only three. Maybe the callers are getting tired of unanswered calls.

Tom Telfer indulges in nostalgia:

LOOKING BACK TO 1954

I was chosen by my school to attend the Royal Canadian Army Cadet Camp in Banff, Alberta, among 300 cadet from all across Canada.

The British Empire Games were on in Vancouver, and I was among 100 chosen to form a Royal Honour Guard, along with 100 Air Cadets and 100 Navy Cadets. At Chilliwack, rowing races were held on the Vedder Canal.

The Duke of Edinburgh inspected us, and Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile at the games.

Marilyn Magid shares another blackboard question:

Catherine Nesbitt forwards the story of

A TRAFFIC VIOLATION

A police officer pulls over a speeding car. The officer says, "I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir."

The husband says, "Gee, officer, I had it on cruise control at 60; perhaps your radar gun needs calibrating."

Not looking up from her knitting, the wife says: "Now don´t be silly, dear - you know that this car doesn´t have cruise control."

As the officer writes out the ticket, the husband looks over at his wife and growls, "Can´t you please keep your mouth shut for once?"

The wife smiles demurely and says, " Well, dear, you should be thankful your radar detector went off when it did or your speed would have been higher."

As the officer makes out the second ticket for the illegal radar detector unit, the man glowers at his wife and says through clenched teeth, "Woman, can´t you keep your mouth shut?"

The officer frowns and says, "And I notice that you´re not wearing your seat belt, sir. That´s an automatic $75 fine."

The driver says, "Yeah, well, you see, officer, I had it on, but I took it off when you pulled me over so that I could get my license out of my back pocket."

The wife says, "Now, dear, you know very well that you didn´t have your seat belt on. You never wear your seat belt when you´re driving."

And as the police officer is writing out the third ticket, the driver turns to his wife and barks, "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!"

The officer looks over at the woman and asks, "Does your husband always talk to you this way, Ma´am?"

"Only when he´s had too much to drink."

Irene Harvalias sends this comment on

TWO DIFFERENT DOCTORS´ CLINICS

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day, and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The second sees his family doctor after waiting three weeks for an appointment, then waits eight weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn´t reviewed for another week, and finally has his surgery scheduled for six months from then.

Why the different treatments for the two patients?

The first is a Golden Retriever.

The second is a senior citizen.

SUGGESTED SITES

Irene Harvalias forwards this link to a lovely video of hummingbirds in slow motion:

In this Good News Network story, a Swedish man is seen freeing a moose trapped by tree branches:

In this TED talk, DK Osseo-Asare tells about people in Ghana who have taught themselves to work with recyclable materials in electronic waste by taking them apart and putting them together again. They have learned by doing, and have created a new economy:

This prison in Norway rehabilitates prisoners who will someday be returned to society by giving them jobs and responsibility in housing with no bars:

Dr. Colin Campbell has been studying nutrition for 40 years, and here he talks about how to revolutionize our health: