To Bathe The Consumer [hot] - The Direct Care Worker Is Going

"Good morning, sweetheart," Maria said, kneeling beside the bed. She touched Esther’s hand—papery skin, bent fingers. "We’re going to get you clean and fresh. Then maybe some applesauce?"

Maria washed her feet last. She always saved the feet for last because Esther would sometimes cry. Today there were no tears, just a long, slow blink that felt like a thank-you. the direct care worker is going to bathe the consumer

Maria entered the small, tidy room. Esther, seventy-three, with silver hair and eyes that sometimes recognized Maria and sometimes looked through her as if she were a ghost, lay curled on her side. A stroke had stolen the right side of her body and most of her words. "Good morning, sweetheart," Maria said, kneeling beside the

"I know," Maria whispered. "Cold at first. But it’ll pass." Then maybe some applesauce

But that morning, in the steam and silence, two women had held each other’s dignity like a glass too precious to drop.