Guess Who Came To Dinner?
Friday, October 12, 2007 Filed in: People
One of our sons is getting married this weekend.
Guess who came to visit? Grandma. Rather, Queen
Grandma. The "I'll be 99 years old in three
weeks" Grandma.
Despite the advancement of years and a number of creeping ailments, Grandma is doing rather well. Her eyesight is not what it used to be. Even a couple of hearing aides are not enough to keep her tuned into to every conversation. A mini-stroke has slowed speech a bit, but not opinions (when they finally see the light of day).
If there's a noteworthy difference to Grandma now and the grandma who made sure her grandchildren said their "please" and "thank you" it's that she no longer says please or thank you. Prodding helps, but it doesn't come instantly any more.
I suppose that a person who has endured life for nearly 100 years, bearing five children, and burying three and a husband, deserves a break or two, so please and thank you seem to be the vocabulary words most frequently lost.
As a child growing up around the influence of the family matriarch, a lost please or thank you was worthy of correction, ranging from a hostile look to a fly swatter swat.
Time marches on. Adults take certain liberties with life, perhaps as a perk for dues paid. Aging adults have a few more perks. A lost please or thank you here and there is not cause for undue concern or an ill tempered response, but I enjoyed asking her to say please when please was needed, and thank you when required.
Despite the advancement of years and a number of creeping ailments, Grandma is doing rather well. Her eyesight is not what it used to be. Even a couple of hearing aides are not enough to keep her tuned into to every conversation. A mini-stroke has slowed speech a bit, but not opinions (when they finally see the light of day).
If there's a noteworthy difference to Grandma now and the grandma who made sure her grandchildren said their "please" and "thank you" it's that she no longer says please or thank you. Prodding helps, but it doesn't come instantly any more.
I suppose that a person who has endured life for nearly 100 years, bearing five children, and burying three and a husband, deserves a break or two, so please and thank you seem to be the vocabulary words most frequently lost.
As a child growing up around the influence of the family matriarch, a lost please or thank you was worthy of correction, ranging from a hostile look to a fly swatter swat.
Time marches on. Adults take certain liberties with life, perhaps as a perk for dues paid. Aging adults have a few more perks. A lost please or thank you here and there is not cause for undue concern or an ill tempered response, but I enjoyed asking her to say please when please was needed, and thank you when required.
