Chicken Soup really IS good for the soul!

As some of you may know, my grandfather had gotten pneumonia before Christmas, and wound up in the hospital, followed by a short stay in Sweetbrook Nursing Home. All said, it was somewhere around a 3-4 week period of time that he wasn't home. During that time, it was so hard to see him. He was still sick, and had very little strength while in the nursing home. Worse yet, his spirit was broken. I think he had himself convinced that he wasn't leaving... that he was there for good. During those weeks, things were turned upside down because we were going over there after work and on weekends. Christmas wasn't the same with him there. When he was finally able to go home, it was a huge weight off of everybody's shoulders. He was certainly the most relieved, but we were all very glad to get back to a more normal type of routine. But, even after he got home, things weren't the same. He was still weak, and unable to get up and down the stairs. This left him unable to do his daily routine of grocery shopping, preparing lunch & coffee, and all of that sort of stuff. Slowly he started to come back to normal.

Yesterday, he made his first batch of chicken soup since he got out of the hospital. His making this chicken soup really is a symbol that things are back to normal now. He drove himself to the grocery store to get everything he needed. He spent the morning cutting up all the veggies and preparing the chicken, then he spent the afternoon boiling it and stirring it all, then finally bottling it for all of us to take home our portions. Picking up that chicken soup last night was one of the biggest emotional pick-me-ups that I could have had. It was really an indescribable feeling to get that soup. Things really are back to normal, and boy is that a great feeling. I haven't had any of the soup yet, but I absolutely can not wait to have it for dinner tonight. This moment has been a long time coming, and one that I'm going to remember. A cup of Campbell's Chicken Noodle may not do shit for your mental health, but this jar of Nono's chicken soup is worth it's weight in diamonds to me.

:)