53 Smackeroos…

Yes, I only spent $53 dollars buying groceries last night. If I realized the price tag was going to be so low, then I would have grabbed some extraneous food to bring up the price. I was not thinking clearly last night. I bought 2 twelve packs of pepperoni pizza and Philly cheesesteak Hot Pockets, 6 gallons of sugar and caffeine laden tea, and some assorted expensive candy.

“Your finished already?!?” my father exclaimed as he was looking at some greeting cards next to the magazine rack. “Come on! Let’s head on out. I’ve got to get Horsefly’s chicken fingers before Kentucky Fried closes at 9pm.”

I had so few items we could go through the 15 items or less express lane. I felt kind of stymied by it all – the whole process.  I was not firing on all cylinders last night. Schizophrenia was playing tricks with my mind. I couldn’t relay this to my father as he unloaded my buggy and put my groceries on the conveyor belt. He was bantering jovially with the cashier and being the extrovert he is. I wanted to cry out, “HELP!”

Dad got in his car and sped one direction towards Valley and KFC, while I got in my car and sped the other direction towards home beneath ominous skies.  While driving home, I got caught in a terrible torrential downpour.  Even my windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the incredible deluge so I pulled into the parking lot of El Rio Grande and waited for the rain to abate some. Soon, I was on the road again as the rain still fell at a pretty good rate and the skies faded from dusk to night.

Then came the part I hate most about buying groceries – unloading them all and putting them away. It was still raining at a good clip when I arrived home.  I rushed back and forth from my car until everything was in the kitchen.  Then I put the frozen stuff away first and then made room in the fridge for 6 gallons of tea.

Something was very amiss with me last night.  It dawned on me in a moment of clarity that we had forgotten to take my medications as we usually do before going to the grocery store.

“Dad?” I told my father over his cellphone. “We forgot to take my medications.”

“Holy shit!” my father exclaimed. “We sure did.  I will be by your house in ten minutes. Doing all this for Horsefly’s got me bumfuzzled.”

It took dad much longer to get to my house than planned.  You have to watch and wait as Horsefly eats his meal as he is extremely prone to get choked.  Dad swung by his house and made me two of his delectable chicken salad sandwiches as a conciliatory measure. We finally took my medications a little after 10pm.

“Do you have some loaf bread?” dad asked me after we had fed and watered Maggie.

“I have some in the freezer,” I replied.

“Thaw some out because there is a whole plate of sliced tomatoes sitting on your piano,” he said. “I thought you might like some mator sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. I already salted and peppered the slices.”

I had to wait an hour after dad gave me my medications before I could eat those delicious chicken salad sandwiches. I gave my medications time to soak in and then I pigged out! Dad’s chicken salad was better than I had remembered. This great comforting calm overcame me as I curled up in my recliner with my iPad. Maggie jumped up in the chair with me and all was right in my world.