Prunes Are The Bomb

I have never understood why prunes have gotten such a bad rap. They really are nothing more than dried plums and I have a love for them. And if you ever try one, you will like them too. Of course, I have not always liked prunes. But, to be honest I just assumed that I did not like them because I had not ever actually tried them. Well that all changed about three years ago when one of my co-workers talked me into trying one from a bag of Sunsweet Dried Plums he kept in his desk drawer (for snacking). And I fell in love from the first one. As a matter of fact, I keep a bag of them at work and another one here at home. Just do not ever make the mistake of eating too many in one day… they can cause horrible gas (so I am told-;-D).
Now, my Grandmother loves prune juice. I really do not ever remember her keeping a bottle of it in the fridge during my childhood or teenage years. Yet, I remember her having it there in the last few years before we moved her out of her home. And she has been given a healthy serving of it every morning before breakfast for the two years she lived at the assisted living place- warmed mind you. Well, here lately it has become her obsession. How do you ask? For whatever reason, in her mind, it is the “red stuff in her stomach” that she “needs” all the time. The Sitter that she stays with actually called me on the phone last Friday to ask me what the red stuff was that my Grandmother keeps asking for. Let me break it down for you: When she cannot “go" she thinks she has to drink prune juice. And in the past she would keep drinking it until she “went”… sometimes even at night. That is a huge No-No... Never, ever, EVER give an elderly woman prune juice at night! Really bad (and I mean REALLY bad) things occur if an elderly person consumes prune juice at night (and no, I will NOT go into the details). So after my conversation with her last week, I made a special trip to Wal-ly World and purchased her a gallon of prune juice. I took it to her when I went down to visit last Saturday. I set the huge bottle right in front of her face while she was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her lunch. I explained to her what it was and she was so happy to get it (even though the Sitter was showing me in the background the huge bottle already in the fridge). Well, I guess that huge gallon bottle of juice did not make that great deal of an impression because by Monday she was asking for the “red stuff” again! And she has every day since then too. I have asked her about my bringing the gallon to her last weekend and she will say that she does not remember. And the Sitter will say that she has already gave her two cups of it earlier that day (usually with positive results). And as usual she has just forgotten about it… So now the question is: how do you de-program her mind to stop the vicious prune juice cycle? According to my high school classmate and now Director of Nursing at a nursing home back home, you Don’t! She says that EVERY elderly person is just automatically obsessed with BM’s, prune juice, etc. And that they deal with this type of behavior every single day! She says that it is the # 1 subject of discussion with just about every one of her residents. Imagine that…