Daddy was one of those preachers who visited his parishioners and others who lived in the community. One day he came home from visiting a man in the hospital with a tale to tell.
This particular man didn’t want to be in the hospital. He wasn’t very compliant with the hospital staff. While Daddy was there, one of the nurses came into the room to get the patient’s temperature. She stuck the thermometer under his tongue and said she’d be back shortly. He made no comment but as soon as she left, he looked over at daddy, grinned a bit, took the thermometer out of his mouth and stuck it in his hot coffee. Just before she walked in the room, he stuck it back under his tongue. Daddy laughed as he told about the nurse running around and calling for help for that poor man who had an astronomically high fever.
Whenever Daddy was in the hospital, the nurses all loved him. “He’s such a cute little man and he is so sweet.” Some of the nurses asked if they could take him home with them. One even said she wanted to put him in her pocket. One day, I questioned one of the nurses because Daddy had not had his scheduled therapy. She reported that when he was asked if he felt like doing therapy, he said, “I don’t think I can do it today.” The therapist said, “Awwww, that’s okay. We’ll try again tomorrow.” I took the nurse aside and said, “I just want you to know that cute, sweet little man is sometimes a liar. Don’t believe everything he tells you!”
On another occasion when Daddy was a patient in the hospital, I made my daily visit. He greeted me and smiled that smile that intimated, “I’ve been up to mischief today.” I questioned his look. He said, “I failed my first test.”
“What kind of test?”
“Well, the nurse asked me if I knew how to put my feet on the floor. I told her, ‘I just grab hold of the rail, twist around and swing my legs over the side of the bed and put my feet on the floor.’ She picked up the call button and said, ‘No, you push this button.’”
When I left him that day he said, “You might not find me better tomorrow, but you’ll certainly find the nurses more enlightened.”
Yep, that’s my Daddy!
