The power of suggestion

I am often called out to go outside of my area. It was on one such occasion I went to see Babs. When I arrived, she had swapped the keys round in her key safe. After spending five minutes trying to get the keys in the lock, I twigged that I possibly had the keys for the back door. So off I scramble through the garden which was in pitch darkness and into the house which was also in darkness. I always carry a torch with me and felt quite the intruder as I flashed my torch round trying to find a light switch, half expecting the police to knock on the door at any moment.






I eventually found Babs lying in bed upstairs and quite downhearted saying she had nothing to live for and so on.

‘Have you eaten’ I asked

‘No and I don’t really fancy anything thank you’

As I went back down the stairs I noticed a container at the foot of the stairs and whilst thanking my lucky stars I hadn’t trod on it on the way up, I realised that it was her 'meals on wheels' dinner from lunchtime, untouched. So I made a sandwich with a cup of tea and left it by her bedside just in case she was peckish later.

The next day I happened to be asked to go and see Babs again. This time the front door key was in the key safe and I found Babs downstairs watching television. Whilst I was pleased to see her up and about, I noticed with regret that another meal was sitting at the foot of the stairs and my sandwich from the night before was in the bin.

‘What would you like to eat’ I said,

Again I got a negative reply but this time I wanted to watch her eat, so I made a sandwich with a cup of tea and put it on her lap.

‘I don’t want anything to eat’ came the immediate response.

‘I know’ I replied, as I pulled up a chair in front of her and asked ‘How did you meet your husband?’

From that point on there was no stopping her as she talked about her family and past life whilst I sat and listened. Admittedly the conversation did go round in circles a bit, but every now and then I would let my eyes drift briefly towards the plate and she would take a bite from the sandwich; by the time I left thirty minutes later the plate was empty. The power of suggestion is a wonderful thing.