Wednesday, September 11, 2013 – XC is the New LX
Ninety is the new sixty. At least it is for some of the ladies I know.
I got to thinking about this when I was doing my Curves circuit workout late this morning. The staffer, Honey (and she is a honey,) announced that one of the members was about to turn 89 years old. This same gal comes in every morning at about 6 am to get her workout in before she starts her day. She used to go swimming after Curves, but since her cancer treatment (and she is fine) she now finds the water too cold.
And then there is our church organist, Irene, who is in her nineties. A few years ago she fell down her basement stairs. She managed to crawl to the phone to get help and was taken to the hospital where she had a hip replacement. My ministry partner, Irja, and I went to visit her after her surgery and she looked okay. By the time we went to see her at home she was showing us how she could do the hippy-hippy shake.
For years, my friend Irja and I visited people in nursing homes who didn’t get many visitors. We took them a card and flowers. It was a really long afternoon, and Irja wouldn’t miss it for the world. Irja would never give away her age – but I am sure she was older than the vast majority of people we visited. And this was after she had had a devastating fall off a dock and onto rocks. It slowed her down a bit, but it sure didn’t stop her.
My Auntie Gladys – I think she was 95 when she went to her heavenly home. About five years earlier, she had to move to a nursing home, It was sooner than she wanted, but she was having trouble with dizziness and her bathroom was on the second floor. In the middle of her move, she had to go to the hospital where she caught C difficile TWICE and came through it. She had more fun than a picnic, at the Manor in Belleville – never missed an activity, always had a word-search on the go.
My mother is 91 and lives in the home she was born in. While she appreciated that her sister, Gladys, received good care at the Hastings Manor, she isn’t leaving her century old home in Belleville. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. One night she fell on the ice on the driveway and banged her head up pretty badly. She decided that by the time the ambulance got there, she could be at the hospital, so she drove herself there.
At the hospital they wanted to shave her head in order to put a few stitches. My mother still has a full head of hair and, frankly, is a little vain about her looks. She said, “No way are you shaving my head. Just clean it up and put a bandage on it.” The emergency folks wanted her to stay in overnight – just to be safe. Her response was, “I can get a good sleep at home in my own bed; I sure won’t get one here!” And off she drove.
*****
What do these ladies have in common. They are women of Faith, for sure - they truly enjoy doing good things for others. And they have a crazily active social life. Where I have to ensure I go out and be with people every day, they have to make a point of being home at least some of the time.
The other thing is that they are widows. But don’t worry, hubs, I’m sure there are lots of ladies in their 90s who are not widows. There is no conspiracy theory to be hatched here. And should I predecease you, here is a helpful anecdote to keep in your pocket.
A debonair man in his mid nineties enters the Tim Hortons and finds a seat next to a good looking, younger woman - in her early nineties, at the most. Trying to remember his best pick-up line, he says, "So tell me, do I come here often?"
I got to thinking about this when I was doing my Curves circuit workout late this morning. The staffer, Honey (and she is a honey,) announced that one of the members was about to turn 89 years old. This same gal comes in every morning at about 6 am to get her workout in before she starts her day. She used to go swimming after Curves, but since her cancer treatment (and she is fine) she now finds the water too cold.
And then there is our church organist, Irene, who is in her nineties. A few years ago she fell down her basement stairs. She managed to crawl to the phone to get help and was taken to the hospital where she had a hip replacement. My ministry partner, Irja, and I went to visit her after her surgery and she looked okay. By the time we went to see her at home she was showing us how she could do the hippy-hippy shake.
For years, my friend Irja and I visited people in nursing homes who didn’t get many visitors. We took them a card and flowers. It was a really long afternoon, and Irja wouldn’t miss it for the world. Irja would never give away her age – but I am sure she was older than the vast majority of people we visited. And this was after she had had a devastating fall off a dock and onto rocks. It slowed her down a bit, but it sure didn’t stop her.
My Auntie Gladys – I think she was 95 when she went to her heavenly home. About five years earlier, she had to move to a nursing home, It was sooner than she wanted, but she was having trouble with dizziness and her bathroom was on the second floor. In the middle of her move, she had to go to the hospital where she caught C difficile TWICE and came through it. She had more fun than a picnic, at the Manor in Belleville – never missed an activity, always had a word-search on the go.
My mother is 91 and lives in the home she was born in. While she appreciated that her sister, Gladys, received good care at the Hastings Manor, she isn’t leaving her century old home in Belleville. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. One night she fell on the ice on the driveway and banged her head up pretty badly. She decided that by the time the ambulance got there, she could be at the hospital, so she drove herself there.
At the hospital they wanted to shave her head in order to put a few stitches. My mother still has a full head of hair and, frankly, is a little vain about her looks. She said, “No way are you shaving my head. Just clean it up and put a bandage on it.” The emergency folks wanted her to stay in overnight – just to be safe. Her response was, “I can get a good sleep at home in my own bed; I sure won’t get one here!” And off she drove.
*****
What do these ladies have in common. They are women of Faith, for sure - they truly enjoy doing good things for others. And they have a crazily active social life. Where I have to ensure I go out and be with people every day, they have to make a point of being home at least some of the time.
The other thing is that they are widows. But don’t worry, hubs, I’m sure there are lots of ladies in their 90s who are not widows. There is no conspiracy theory to be hatched here. And should I predecease you, here is a helpful anecdote to keep in your pocket.
A debonair man in his mid nineties enters the Tim Hortons and finds a seat next to a good looking, younger woman - in her early nineties, at the most. Trying to remember his best pick-up line, he says, "So tell me, do I come here often?"