Jaki Jean on Vignettes with Jean: Breakfast

Since Jean & I have began this journey together several years ago, her doctors have emphasized two things:  nutrition & repositioning.

I have become a fanatic about protein & fresh fruits & vegetables & organics & a diet that includes the body’s need for meat without being dependent upon that need for the core of the body's protein requirements.

And I like to vary her breakfast fare. 

Some mornings are scrambled eggs with a tidbit of salsa & a side of kiwi.  Some mornings are omelet mornings, with a side of fruit.  Some mornings are sweet potato pancakes with warm applesauce.  Or mini-waffles with peanut butter & warmed apricot preserves (I just really like apricot preserves).  Some mornings are Greek yogurt with fruit.

Some mornings we throw caution to the wind & indulge in chocolate croissants or raspberry strudel or ice cream made from frozen bananas, always accompanied by a protein drink.

This morning was Greek yogurt (Fage 2% - 20 grams of protein) with fresh strawberries, blackberries & blueberries.  And honey.

Because Jean, like Jaki Jean, has a bit of a sweet tooth.

After the breakfast dishes had been cleared & I got dressed & it was time to reposition Jean, she held out a tissue to me (Jean uses a lot of tissues) & said:

Jaki, these came out of my mouth & they are alive.

I took the tissue, put on my reading glasses & thought does Jean think I feed her food infected with bugs?

After examining the tissue with the “live” creatures, I understood.

She felt something on her teeth, she used a tissue to remove them & her Parkinson’s controlled hands quivered as she examined blackberry seeds from breakfast & in her perception, they were alive.

Although, for me, this still begs the question:  

Does Jean think I feed her food infected with bugs?

I show her that the seeds are not alive.  I promise her that I do not feed her food infected with living creatures.  I do not bring up the control that Parkinson’s has on her hands & body or our life together.

I want to brush my teeth, she says.

I tell her that she only wants to brush her teeth right at that moment because she thinks her mouth is filled with tiny, live creatures.  We laugh.

I also tell her that first, I am going to reposition her.

I do that, & then I help her brush her teeth.

But before we begin with the teeth cleaning ritual, because I cannot resist, I tell her

Let’s wash all those bugs out of your mouth.

Jean laughs, we laugh.

And all the time we laugh, not for the first or last time, my heart breaks just a little.