Puzzled

Mom moved into Cedar Creek in June of last year and by July she was bored.  With no cleaning, cooking, laundry or housework to do, she felt like she had too much time on her hands.  She decided that the next time we went to Walmart, she wanted a jigsaw puzzle.  That would give her something to do in her spare time. 

Well, a few days later we were at Walmart and we went through every puzzle in the store.  "Too many pieces."  "Those pieces are too small." "Not a very pretty picture." "Don't they have any religious ones?"  We went to the Christian Book Store to see if they had anything.  No luck.

I finally hit on the idea of ordering her one and found a photo I was sure she would like.  I uploaded it to the Walmart Photo Store and in about a week the puzzle arrived, 250 pieces, just the right size.

Now we faced another problem...where to work the puzzle.  Every horizontal surface in Mom's apartment was covered with something.  Lotions, potions, pills, and paraphernalia covered every square inch.  The little bistro set that Jennie and I got for her would have been ideal, but it was covered with pillboxes, paper plates, water bottles and dishes.  There was a big fruit bowl full of apples and bananas she added to daily by bringing "a little something to eat later" from the dining room.

Down the corridor from her room was a table where the residents sometimes got together to work on puzzles.  I had seen some partially completed puzzles there.  No, Mom didn't think that would be a good idea.  "Someone might make off with it."

I know we discussed working on that puzzle at least a dozen times over the next few months but the time was never right.  "Church will be starting soon."  "It's getting pretty close to supper time."  "I might ought to go check on Mrs. Justice." "I can't miss Morgan."  

The puzzle never got worked.

With the haste and confusion as we packed up Mom's things to empty her room, I can't recall who took the puzzle.  I remember thinking it should go to Shawn and Jennifer, but I don't know if it ever got to them.  

Wherever it is now, someone should work that DARN puzzle.

Posted by Clyde