The woman you know and love as “Cheerful Aama” has had a stroke.
For those who know her as Cheerful Aama, you’ll know she’s a bit of a princess. Oh, who am I kidding? She’s such a princess only one of her three daughters has been to visit her at the elder care home ever since she’s been there! Still, she has always had a bright smile for me, especially after our long climb up those ridiculously steep stairs on Chhath Puja.
Her real name is Nonni Torrey. This is how I can best spell it phonetically for everyone. I don’t have a way to spell it in the Devangari script of Nepal, but in the new, Western-style of Nepal writing, we spell her name Nanicchori.
I hadn’t heard from Shaha in a few days, and that usually means he’s taking a group of women on a tour or trek, or, as I feared, he’s preoccupied with a health crisis with one of the elders.
When he told me she’d had a stroke, my heart sank. It is a sign of the times to come with the elders at this home (recall that Padmal Singh had a heart attack last year). Nanicchori’s stroke left her unable to move. Getting to the elder care home is a bit of a challenge; getting there with an ambulance is even more challenging. I don’t know how they got her from her room in the dorm, out the walkway, across the lower courtyard, and into a vehicle if she couldn’t move. I can only hope they got an ambulance and a gurney down there to the lower courtyard.
Because I refuse to engage in mission creep in order to obtain more donors or grants, we can’t pay for her medical expenses. We can, however, send a little extra money this month to help with overhead at the elder care home while Shaha arranges payment for her hospital bills. Rest assured, he gets a discount from the medical professionals in Pharping!
I know many of you feel as if you know these elders from reading the book, and I thank you for your compassion. I promise to pass along updates as I get them from Shaha.
Please consider a donation of just $20 to help pay for her therapy. It would go a long way!
With love,
