Fast-food but non-fasting lunch
Mom and Dad took me to go find a hamburger yesterday after I sweated it up at Planet Rehab, but we all ended up getting yummy grilled chicken sammies and fries instead. I did not win anything at Monopoly, but the fries made up for it. The fries did not make up for all that mat-work PT37 thought up earlier. The nice lady next to me was giving us both “the eye” that plainly said PT37 was crazy, and so was I since I was doing what she said. It’s not my fault, really – I blame PT6 (for being PT6) and OD3, who instructed me, “Now whatever PT29 tells you to do, that’s what you do.” So I’m not responsible, I promise – I just work here.
When I was waking up in the 2nd Hospital and saying all sorts of stuff I should have kept to myself (e.g. I told Ai Ai how I’d feed her children ice cream when she wasn’t looking) I talked to Mom about how we used to talk on the phone when I got home from work and sometimes she’d ask, “What are you cooking for dinner?”
“I haven’t fixed anything yet,” I’d answer truthfully but evasively. I told Mom the whole story was that there was not going to be any dinner that night since that was my fast day. Fasting was rarely/never taught about when I was growing up and I’ve always been interested in the topic so I did some research when I moved to OR. I’m still surprised that all the books I needed were readily available at my local library. I read then mentally discarded a volume that smacked a little of “If you do this, then God will do that,” found an actually helpful text, and consulted the health coach/nurse at work to make sure a regular fast would be okay. They keep a nurse on campus for emergencies (my boss was steering me to her office when I ditched him in the hallway and collapsed in the Ladies’ Room) and for one of those programs where if you get a yearly checkup/bloodwork consultation you get a discount on your health benefits. Notably, my bloodwork numbers were pronounced to be “perfect” and the nurse (who happened to also be a nutritionist, I think) told me it would be fine for my body to experience a regular cleanse via fasting.
So this was my happy practice until I got sick. Naturally, I was very keen on doing all the things I used to do so when we got home I asked Mom if I could do fasting. When she refused I hit up Dad, but they presented a united front (without previous consultation) on this matter. “Now is not the time for fasting,” Tanpo told me.
I think it’s hysterical that when I got an answer I didn’t like from Mom I immediately sought out Dad. It’s also funny that fasting was actually somewhat of a relief for me since I didn’t have to think about food that day after breakfast (I fasted only Lunch and Dinner). I recently had a talk with my friend E, who is newly married to my other friend, S, and asked her, “So you have to feed him? Regularly?” Now S has many talents (including wheelchair handling along with CEF and origami under duress) but lets E take primary responsibility for cooking in their household, which is a huge responsibility in my book. As a single person I loved the freedom of eating cereal for dinner if I wanted to, and am mystified by the huge adjustment having to feed another person marriage carries. So I give E major props for feeding S, and S major props for being S.
Meanwhile, I am a huge proponent of the fasting idea. Not eating, although somewhat of a relief in that I didn’t have to devise proper meals for myself, was also a very practical reminder of what I was supposed to think about (I used to pick different items for prayer on those days). I came across a quote I really liked and wanted to share it. I can’t remember who said it so there’s no proper citation, but it goes something like this: Prayer is the right hand with which we grasp hold of things unseen, and fasting is the left hand with which we let go of things we do see.
Learning How... 