I was sitting at dinner tonight, eating my small portion of salmon, realizing that Granuaile and I have a lot in common. She was sitting with her plate – a small piece of salmon, half of a baked potato and a small spoon of broccoli, chopped pretty fine. She holds her fork out to you so you can put a bite of food on it, then she struggles to get the food to her mouth without it falling off. If you hold her hand while she holds the fork, and spear a piece of food that way, she giggles with excitement over doing it herself.
Eating for me now is just as much a learning experience. I know how to use a fork, but I know too well how to use it. I have to remember not to put a full bite on the fork, but a bite the size of what I might put on Granuaile’s fork. I have to chew every bite as if it has to last me a week before I can swallow. We have to remind Granuaile to chew her food, or she ends up with a mouthful that she eventually spits out because it’s too much.
Tonight, I did something wrong. I’m not sure what it was. We had salmon last week, and it tasted really good, went down really easy, and I really enjoyed it. Tonight, I sat here for nearly an hour after dinner hoping that lightening would strike me to alleviate the pain I had from the “stuck” salmon.
It’s tough to learn new things – at my age or at Granuaile’s age. But it is nice to have someone to learn with 🙂