I guess everyone is thankful for food. For those of us who have so much we sometimes take it for granted. And, while we are all aware of the millions of people who have no food — and I’m certainly not making light of that situation — last night we — the neighborhood old folks — had a spectacular dinner.
It wasn’t just any dinner and as Mrs. Hildebrand said it could have been the last supper for many of us. I know some of the younger folks who follow our story won’t understand this. And, for all those medical types who occasionally read the journal I will apologize in advance. On second thought, I won’t. Deal with it.
Anyway, here’s what happened. Over the past few months many of us old people have been making the pilgrimage to the doctor’s office. And, of course we all leave with a pocketbook full of samples and enough prescriptions to make Medicare Part D cringe. Truthfully, we are all extremely happy that science has come so far and that there is a medication for everything.
Of course, if you read the side effects you may decide that the disease is better than the side effects of the medication that can cure it. As one neighbor said when she came home with a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome she can’t afford the medication for it. Her husband pointed out that her insurance would cover the cost except for the $3.00 deductible. The woman said she wasn’t worried about the cost of the medicine. One of the possible side effects is compulsive gambling and she can’t afford another trip to Las Vegas. (I swear. That is one of the side effects.)
Another neighbor was given a purse full of samples for something that listed “thoughts of suicide” as a side effect. Naturally, the instructions said to call the doc if that occurred. Well, the neighbor reasoned that if she got so depressed taking an anti-depressant that she had thoughts of suicide she probably wouldn’t call the doctor.
Now, I have to say that we live in a neighborhood of doctors and they have been a blessing. I live in a family of doctors and I am thankful for each of them, past and present, living and dead. But, here’s the point. Our neighborhood of old folks isn’t exactly into medication. Some of us take daily meds, but for the most part we are drug free.
But, back to the “last supper.” During the past week or so we had all spent a great deal of time talking about our blood pressure and our cholesterol counts. So, we decided to have a party. And, I might add that as of this morning all of us are still alive.
For anyone who is unaware, I live in the south. We fry everything. We love buttermilk biscuits and collard greens seasoned with fatback. You get the idea. We are a doctor’s worst nightmare.
Last night the over 60 crowd got together to play cribbage and dominoes as we are prone to do from time to time. When we have those great big get-togethers we all bring a covered dish. Most often we have green leafy salads and extremely “healthy” food. But, for this occasion we decided that each of us would prepare our best “down home” dish.
Everyone brought his or her sample meds and poured them into a huge punch bowl in the middle of the table — our centerpiece. And, as we passed through the buffet line we piled our plates with real macaroni and cheese, collard greens, rutabagas, squash and onions (with bacon bits), stuffed bell peppers, and…. 
You get the idea. We ate like pigs eating slop. And, to top it off we had chocolate cake —probably the healthiest thing on the table since it was “dark” chocolate.
Now, I’m not going to tell anyone out there that we didn’t enjoy every bite. And, I’m not going to tell anyone out there that we are not all suffering from indigestion and gas today. But, I am going to tell you that for one night we tossed the med samples and savored every mouthful of decadent eating.
Let me just say that in general we all eat healthy and nutritious food. We eat fresh vegetables more often than most thanks to our community garden. And, yes we do walk everyday. Some of us are enrolled in yoga classes. Others go to the gym. And, no we — for the most part — are not in the old lady or old man classes. We can keep up with the younger people. But, we have been exercising all our lives. None of us are overweight — well, maybe a pound or two, but nothing serious. And, we do enjoy life.
That’s the key — enjoying life. And, last night those of us on this ridge ate enough grease and fat to last us for a year. We enjoyed it. Today we will probably go back to our more nutritious menus after we finish off the bottle of Tums. But, once in a while it really is okay to indulge. And, today I am thankful for a good old down home dinner.
