Fanny relished sleeping in on Sabbath. She would have relished sleeping in this Sabbath, too, except for the hairy weight which was slowly trying to crawl onto the bed. It started with the press of a nose to her hand to get her to scratch him. Fanny groggily had obliged. However, Fanny now realized that it was a whole systematic effort to plague her until she was fully awake. Buford’s insidiousness was frightful in its simplicity then he had the guile to look innocent. She told him to go lay down so she could have prayer and read. Buford lay down well enough but then the staring started which she tried to block by strategically placing her book. However, she couldn’t block the low rumbling growls that rolled over her in waves.
One thing that Fanny had known for a while was that she needed a schedule – a concrete schedule. She had to have one. She tried to develop habits that were beneficial to her condition, habits that would make her life easier like color coordinating her closet. Her initial schedule for Sabbath was very simple with prayer and home time, church, and visiting. She knew this about herself just like she knew that Buford couldn’t help but impact it.
Fanny hopped out of bed, threw on a robe, and let the beast out. She loved mornings everything was new and bright with promise. Fanny watched Buford’s antics as he romped around the yard then encouraged him to get his business done and praised him as he came back inside. He took easily to the mixed food and his tummy didn’t seem upset so far.
Fanny let him out right before she left for church. She felt comfortable leaving Buford as he was adjusting well so she went about her day though she set her alarm to remind herself to go home and tend to his needs after church service. She’d had to miss the fellowship meal, but it was a small price to pay so he wouldn’t do his business in the house. Fanny praised Buford when he came back in and since he seemed to be doing fine she left to visit Great Aunt Kathy.
When Fanny entered the reception area, Aunt Kathy was there ready with questions. Fanny just grinned as she told Aunt Kathy about Buford’s size and his polite manners and Kathy could already see that Fanny was attached to him and she would be hurting when she gave the dog back. However, there was a sparkle to her that hadn’t been there the last time she had seen Fanny. Kathy had seen that look many times before in others eyes so when she saw it in Fanny's eyes she wanted to know who caused it. Fanny felt like she was being bombarded with questions. She didn’t know what Aunt Kathy was looking for but she was picking apart every day and asking sometimes innocuous questions only to follow them with pointed inquiries. Fanny finally had enough. She finally asked Aunt Kathy what she was trying to discover.
“I think you have a beau,” Aunt Kathy stated as she settled back into her chair. “And furthermore, I think that you’re pretty involved already.”
“I think that you’re projecting,” Fanny sat forward and leaned her forearms on her legs. “And furthermore, I think that man over there,” Fanny smiled gently and kept her eyes on her aunt as she slightly inclined to head towards a gentleman across the room. “I think he’s sweet on you.” Fanny watched as the tips of Aunt Kathy’s ears turned red. She wore makeup so it was really the only way that Fanny could tell she was blushing. Fanny almost crowed with delight.
“You have another think coming,” Aunt Kathy fidgeted and looked at Fanny. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know I just got here. But, he seems to look quite often in your direction,” Fanny stated.
“Not him,” Kathy inclined her head towards the man. “Him!” Kathy said forcefully as she gestured to Fanny.
Fanny respected Aunt Kathy too much to prevaricate, “Kyle Chambers.” Aunt Kathy nodded and tapped her finger on the arm of her chair. She knew about Kyle from her long talks with John about his wife’s death, his family history, and he was very proud of his son. Kyle and Fanny would be a good match if Kyle could accept her. Kathy wasn’t so much worried about him accepting Fanny’s health issues as Kyle was very dedicated to his family regardless of their medical issues. She was worried that Kyle wouldn’t be able to accept Fanny's commitment to God. Kathy had a hard time initially with Fanny’s religious leanings. It had been much easier when they could shop all weekend and not have to worry about such things as going to church and Sabbaths. The one thing that Kathy always came back to was Fanny's explanation about belief. It was simple-if you are an atheist and there is no God and you die you lose nothing, but if there is a God then you would've lost everything.
Kathy didn’t know where Fanny had gotten her devotion from but the more Fanny shared with her the more Kathy wanted to learn. She felt happiest when she had these weekly visits with Fanny that included a little talking, a little reading, and a little singing. It was a perfect time. She was happy to spend some peaceful quality time with her soft spoken, gentle, great grand niece. At her age, Kathy was growing tired of having to traipse through the mud puddle that was her family. Thinking about family, Kathy decided that she would have to tell Fanny about her mother.
“Fanny, I am happy for you, and I hope everything works out.” Fanny smiled and nodded her agreement. Kathy said her next words quickly hoping the faster she spoke the less upset Fanny would be, “I know how you get stressed when people warn you they want to tell you something so I’ll just come out and say it. Amelia, your mother, called me and asked me about your mental state.”
“What?” Fanny frowned confused. “Why did she want to know about my mental state?” Kathy sighed.
“She has recently been around someone that has MS and she says that you are too healthy to have it. Amelia wants you to see a psychiatrist.” Kathy informed her.
“What?” Fanny sat back in her chair. “MS affects every person differently. Of course, we aren’t going to have the same symptoms,” Fanny looked at her hands confused about where her mother could have gotten such an idea. “We could be at different stages. I was just diagnosed. I...I have symptoms,” Fanny looked at Kathy pleadingly. “I have pain. I have… I have fissures. You’ve seen the MRI,” Fanny eyes clouded with tears and disbelief. Kathy nodded her head. Kathy hadn’t wanted to tell Fanny but she needed to know what Amelia was considering. Kathy had seen the MRI and the amount of white spots on the charts had been frightening as they were mainly centered around Fanny's memory center. Kathy had told Amelia she had seen the scans and Fanny had MS. “She thinks I am a hypochondriac,” Fanny said decisively, looking to Kathy for substantiation. Kathy nodded. “I had a radiologist diagnose it, and the neurologist confirms it.” Fanny wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, “I use medication that costs $4600 a month and the only thing they use it for is RRMS.” Fanny looked at Kathy and gave her a watery smile, “I must be a pretty good actress.”
“Maybe when she comes down here you can take her to see your doctor,” Kathy patted Fanny’s hand.
“She’s coming down - when?” Fanny was very concerned. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with and Fanny didn’t want to deal with the drama. It was a reason she did so well at school so she leave home quickly.
“It won’t be until the July 4th weekend. You have time to prepare,” Kathy assured her. Fanny just nodded her head in acknowledgement. Her alarm buzzed so Kathy and Fanny made their way to the Lounge where the facilities baby grand piano was located which Fanny utilized every Sabbath.
Their little singing group was expanding and as Kathy passed around the little hymn booklets some residents had to share. The books were really simple with just the title of the song and the words in stanzas. Fanny had memorized a lot of hymns and she loved to play for this crowd because they were now the same age as her instructor when she was little. Every week someone remembered a song they wanted Fanny to play and Fanny was just tickled that they thought about the hymns throughout the week even if it was to stump her. She knew it was to stump her because they were keeping score.
Fanny played through the requests and sang with the residents. Her mom, Amelia, had told her that while she didn’t have a bad voice Fanny was an alto so she couldn’t expect to hit the high notes like Amelia who was a soprano. Fanny still loved to sing and play. Their time was winding down when Luke O’Fallon requested a song – My Cathedral. Fanny frowned at him, and scrunched her lips. Fanny loved this game they played. She leaned her elbow on the keys, jarring the strings, and making the couple people jump. Aunt Kathy fought back a grin as she shook her head when Fanny asked her if she knew the song. Fanny fiddled with a few high notes before she delicately stroked the keys for real and started singing. Luke frowned then leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, a smile on his face, and his eyes closed. It was a lovely old song with a gentle melody. When she lifted her foot off the pedal to end the last note, she heard Gertie mutter 15:0, and she just smiled. Fanny chatted with a few people as she collected the booklets then walked Aunt Kathy back to her apartment.
Kathy knew that Fanny had a lot of experience in the world. Between school loans and working, Fanny had responsible for her own education. She had worked for a Fortune 100 company and she’d had a successful career. Life experience had taught Fanny how to approach people and knew what to say to get two people to agree to talk and listen. She was a peacemaker. She had been forced into the role from the time she was a girl as unfortunate as that was. Fanny could have been led down any number of paths but she had looked at the examples around her and had decided on her own destiny. Kathy had to respect her for her choices for making something of herself when her family tried to hold her back. Fanny was also a good judge of character and managed to have people around her that supported her, but sometimes she tried to fool herself into believing people were more than they were and those situations had never worked out.
“Fanny, you are a very intelligent woman,” Kathy began. “I know that you have thought a lot about relationships about what you want and don’t want.” When Fanny nodded, Kathy took her hand, “Kyle is older than you. He is a good looking man. He’s probably been in a relationship and has been down a road that you have only dreamt of.” Fanny stopped and turned to look at her great aunt Kathy.
“Are you talking about sex?” Fanny questioned bluntly.
“You, child, are going to be the death of me,” Kathy sighed. “I was trying to broach the subject with decorum and sensitivity, but yes, I am talking about sex.”
“So you think he’s had sex before? And, you want me to be careful that I am not lured into his web, drained of my blood and soul then tossed aside like all the other women he’s exsanguinated,” Fanny surmised with a sharp nod. “I hadn’t envisioned him as a soul sucking spider, but hey, if the shoe fits.” Fanny shrugged.
“I didn’t say he was a soul sucking spider!” Kathy denounced.
“You think he is a virgin stalking axe murder with a chocolate fetish?”
“Absolutely n -… What?” Kathy was confused.
“I was hoping for that one personally. Well, not the axe murder part,” Fanny finally gave her aunt a teasing smile. Kathy promptly pinched Fanny’s arm. “Ow,” Fanny cried. “What’d you pinch me for?”
“You know exactly what for.” Kathy huffed. “I am trying to talk to you about the benefits of being in a committed relationship, about not having premarital sex, about saving yourself for your husband, and you’re mocking me!”
“I wasn’t meaning to mock, Aunt Kathy. I was just teasing,” Fanny implored with her big brown eyes. “I understand what you’re saying. Even though a man tells you one thing, he could just as easily be giving you a song and dance routine. I need to be cautious and rely on my mind and not on my feelings.”
“That’s right,” Kathy huffed and shook her finger at Fanny. “And, don’t think those big brown eyes will get you out of trouble either.” Fanny nodded in agreement then took off her glasses. She was severely near-sighted so her glasses made her eyes look smaller than what they were. She tucked in her chin, pouted her lips, and looked at Kathy with her really big brown eyes. When, Kathy sighed, Fanny knew it had worked.
“You’re a spoiled rotten child,” Kathy chuckled and pulled a grinning Fanny into a hug. “But don’t think your wiles will get you out of trouble every time.”
“Thank you for your concern,” Fanny sighed as she tucked her head into her great aunt’s neck and breathed her rosy scent if Fanny could pick a scent to remember for all time it was that one. Fanny loved that scent and everything it portrayed.
Fanny and Kathy finished walking to her room and said their goodbyes. Fanny really had to get home. She hadn’t wanted to say anything, but she had felt a twinge in her back sitting at the piano and she needed to take precautionary measures so she could hopefully stave off a MS Hug. Hug - what a benign term for such a painful symptom, she prayed she could avert it.