“How do you like retirement?” my friend Allison asked. “Love it, of course!” I replied. “But I loved teaching, too.” That’s the short answer. I love my scheduled activities and my impromptu ones. I love hosting the Bible studies at my house and helping my Egyptian friend and my Chinese friend with their English. I … [Read more…]
Have you ever thought of what people would find in your home if you died suddenly, unexpectedly? I have. They might observe that I tried to be organized but still was messy in many areas. It’s just hard to keep things neat when I have lots of different things going at once. Last week I … [Read more…]
Marriage. What a wonderful and mysterious institution! My parents were married 74 years ago today, on my mother’s twentieth birthday. By the time I was aware of her celebrating both birthday and anniversary on the same day, she was saying how foolish she had been. But she’d always said she didn’t want to be a … [Read more…]
As older relatives, especially parents, pass on, sometimes we have regrets about questions—trivial to important—we never asked. Here are some examples: What was your favorite childhood game? What else did you do for entertainment? What do you remember about your first— electricity? television? indoor toilet? car? movie? In what situation did you meet and court … [Read more…]
News coverage in the last week has gone from inspiring to devastating. All we can do for Orlando is pray and offer peace and love to those around us. Chick Fil A gave us a great example by firing up the grills on SUNDAY and giving free food to those giving blood and to police … [Read more…]
My exercise class at the YMCA is called “Silver Sneakers Classic.” Silver Sneakers is “the nation’s leading exercise program for active older adults.” So it’s an exercise class for old people; one friend calls it the “chair class.” Indeed we do each have a chair and some of the upper body exercises are done sitting, … [Read more…]
In the last week, various experiences have prompted me to reflect on previous years. Steve asked about memorable birthdays and the two I recall best are my sixteenth, my sixtieth, and my sixty-second. (Something about those sixes…) On my sixteenth birthday, a Saturday, I’d cleaned my room all day and Mother told me to shower … [Read more…]
Through my father-in-law, I learned that “old” is ten or more years older than the person speaking. At age 75, he would bemoan getting in line “behind all those old people.” So I spent last week with old people–very revealing. Steve and I drove to Middle Tennessee, home of my youth, and visited some of … [Read more…]
Fifty has been in my thoughts a lot lately, for various reasons. Turning 50 doesn’t seem so long ago and I didn’t welcome it. Half a century! That seemed much older than it does now, but I’ve learned that we never feel as old as our years tell us we are. The current reason for … [Read more…]
Recently I visited an old friend. My friendship with Enid started 43 years ago, and she is now 91, so that qualifies as an “old friend” in every sense of the word. When I joined her to teach third grade, I was uneasy about teaching such babies since I’d previously taught upper grades. She immediately set … [Read more…]
