Ensure...for sure!

Surely Ensure is the new power drink for the elderly! Forget all that stuff athletes drink....they should be drinking Ensure....it is solely responsible for tremendous numbers of the aged living well past one hundred! Papa is actually 91...but when you ask him he is going on 93. He is known for stretching the truth...and at this point in his life it is more exciting to be going on 93 than to just be plain ole' 91. He has lost most of his teeth and due to the blood thinners he takes he is not a good candidate for extensive dental work....therefore....he drinks many cans of Ensure a day...and thrives quiet well on the nutrients from this drink.

Ensure is quiet expensive...about a dollar a can. We buy lots of it...cases, in fact from Sams. Jim had mentioned on several occasions that Papa was really going through the Ensure. Recently his need for the life sustaining liquid doubled. Any inheritance we ever had any visions of was going toward the purchase of Ensure. After questioning Papa Jim discovered that he is providing Ensure for his buddies....when going visiting or having guests in his room...he always offers them an Ensure....much like "Come on down to my place for a beer..." only...now he is the perfect host sharing his Ensure with his buddies. (Wonder if it comes in kegs?)

After Christmas we got a call from a friend of mine. Her dad is a recent resident of Papa's place. They have become good buddies. After Christmas she left a couple of messages on our answering machine while we were gone....no doubt this was a Papa related matter. Sure enough...after hesitating for a few minutes....she very sweetly told me that our daddy was bringing Ensure to her daddy and her daddy couldn't drink it because he was a diabetic. She asked her dad why he didn't just tell Papa that he couldn't drink Ensure...that his doctor wouldn't let him. He looked at her very seriously and said that Papa was his friend and he didn't want to hurt his feelings....so he keeps an empty can around and pretends to drink the drink while Papa is there....when actually he hides the full can. After Papa leaves...he puts the unopened full cans in his closet. When she checked the closet....there were about 75 cans of Ensure stacked neatly.

Being a sharp "on the ball" kind of gal....she suggested that she take the Ensure to someone that could use it. He agreed that would be a splendid idea....and so....as you have already probably guessed.....she had a trunk load of Ensure to deliver to us.......so we could re-cycle it back to Papa! We have a black market Ensure ring.....car trunk drug deals going on in our drive way!

It has all worked out! We are grateful for the financial relief....Papa continues in his role of generous host....his buddy remains the loyal friend with his pretend can...his daughter will continue to be our supplier and everyone is happy......for at least another 15-20 years....after all it is ENSURE...power drink for the elderly! Surely, this is one happy ending! :)