Marlee's Hometown Has Found A Cause

It didn't take long for the news to spread around Marlee's small hometown that Marleewood was doing some remodeling. The word was that it was a small project, but a lot of people didn't know what they were doing. When you don't know something, what do you do? You ask, and of course, the folks in that little town did a lot of asking and wondering. They had seen some lumber going in the back door and some folks had seen a lot of cars parked in the back parking lot.

No one knew exactly what was going on until one day Marlee and Grandma B were shopping. Marlee was checking her list that she had put on her tablet when she heard someone say, "Hi, Marlee. What are you shopping for today?" She turned and saw Nick's mom. They were getting some books. Marlee said, "We are getting some books and some pillows for our new Quiet Room. Looks like you are getting some books too." Nick's mom started talking to Grandma B and wanted to know what a Quiet Room was. Grandma B said that sometimes you just need a little time to yourself and some quiet, so Grandma Lu thought that we could use one." Nick's mom agreed. She said, "I know I could sure use some some days. What do you need? Anything I can help with?" Grandma B said, "Anything and everything. Actually we just need some paint and some comfortable furniture, books and a few little things. I don't expect we will need much, but thanks for asking. Come and see us soon. Grandma Lu makes sure that we have snacks on hand!" They both chuckled and went about their shopping. Nick and his mama went shopping for lots of snacks for Grandma Lu. They couldn't wait to surprise her.

Nick's mom told some of her friends that were young moms. Those moms told their friends. It didn't take long before everyone in Marlee's hometown knew what was going on at Marleewood. Some folks thought it was silly but some thought, "Boy, what I couldn't do with an hour of quiet just for a little while."

One person thought, " There is nothing I love more than to watch a fire and just let my mind wander. I wonder if their Quiet Room will have a fireplace?"  Another person thought, "I love to watch a gold fish swim in a bowl. I could watch that little fish and think about nothing and just relax. "I wonder if they would like a gold fish?"

Some people thought that sitting in a boat or on a bank of a river or lake was a perfect way to get some quiet time. He loved to read books too. "I think I'll box up some books for their Quiet Room. I have plenty of them."  Other folks thought that taking a walk was a good way to get some exercise and have some quiet time as well.  One lady looked out her back door and watched the sun as it rose to begin a new day. She thought to herself, "This is my Quiet Room. I don't need to go somewhere to be quiet. I am a lucky one."

 When one mom heard about the Quiet Room she thought, "If I could just take a bath without someone wanting to know what I was doing, and why I was taking so long it would be a miracle. Quiet Room; I don't think there is such a thing."

An old man even heard about Marleewood's Quiet Room. He lived in a nursing home. One of his visitors had told him what was going on down the street. He told his visitor, "A Quiet Room? What I wouldn't give for some peace and quiet. This place is so noisy. Just because I am old some people think I can't hear. Well, I can hear very well.  It's noisy even at night. If I could go sit in Marleewood's Quiet Room I sure would. I wish I had a way to get there." His visitor had heard about a little girl whose name was Ruby. She was only eleven years old, but was known for granting simple wishes to folks that lived in a nursing home. He wondered...

Back at Marleewood Grandma Lu was showing the folks that were helping where she and Marlee, Charlie, and Grandma B wanted some things put and built in. They wanted a reading nook for one thing and they needed some book shelves. That was really all that needed to be built, the rest of the work was just decorating and some paint. The Quiet Room should be done in a couple of days.

The loud sounds of saws and hammers and people talking made so much noise that Grandma Lu had no idea what was going on in the back kitchen. Some folks were bringing in boxes of things through the back kitchen door. They were so kind, but they were just dropping the boxes off and leaving. Grandma Lu had no idea that the Community Room was getting full of boxes and even some furniture. Some boxes were filled to the brim with items that folks thought a Quiet Room needed. I'm afraid that the Quiet Room will not be nearly big enough for all of the donations that Marleewood friends had brought.

Back in the very noisy soon to be Quiet Room, Grandma Lu had started to sneeze....