Old People

I like old people. I don't mean old like, they think they are old, I mean old old. Like Scott's Grandma Alice. She's 94. That's old. Old like when you are proud of your age again and tell anyone who asks! That's cool. Tuesday is my Aunt Amy's birthday. My Grandma Aurlette's sister. Grandma was born in 1922 and Aunt Amy is, a couple years older than Grandma was. I think she will be 85. She still lives by herself. She does not seem old, though, but she has the stories. She doesn't trust doctors. She told the doctor she was going off the medicines he prescribed and she did. She made her next appt. to see him and he said, "What's the point? You don't listen to me anyway!" Maybe that's why she is still doing so well...

Aunt Amy has stories to tell. Grandma Alice has stories to tell. I would love to go to a nursing home and just go from room to room talking to the people there. That would be fun. Grandma Alice told me about how she broke her big toe. The car ran over it. She didn't say anything to anybody. Because they were going to town in the car. Had she complained, she would not have been able to go. Her big toe still sticks straight up.


Before my Grandma Aurlette died, my Aunt Sandy did an audio tape of a conversation with her. It is very cool to listen to them talking about things. I did the same thing with Scott's Grandma Alice. She talked about living on the family farm, the car, her husband dying in a plane crash on the farm, having to raise two children herself, all kinds of stuff. We don't always take time to realize what we have to be thankful for. Our children are not hungry. I have to remember this when I throw out food that we didn't eat from the fridge. We have several pairs of shoes. And clothes that we don't have time to wear.

Several years ago I saw a picture of my dad's school class in Germany. He was born in 1941 and this was post-war Germany. I asked him why only a few of the kids had shoes. They couldn't afford them. And lederhosen (sp?) must have come in handy because leather pants don't wear out very quickly and you only need one pair! Dad also told me about his dad the other day. He would go out to the forest to pick out a Christmas tree. If the branches were not perfect, he would cut a branch off the bottom of the tree and graft it into the empty spot, so the tree would look perfect! Amazing! Opa was 64 when he died. The same age my dad is now. But he was not healthy at 64 and dad is.

I know I will not have Aunt Amy or Grandma Alice around for much longer. And I miss my Grandma Aurlette. I miss my mom, too, but her passing away is bittersweet. There was so much suffering at the end. For her and Dad. Grandma Aurlette was full of life. She didn't want to die. Ever! She always had a smile on her face. I have only really gotten to know Aunt Amy since Grandma Aurlette died. Aunt Amy lives in Sylmar. We are going out on Wed. for her birthday. She stayed with me for a week after Rebekah was born and helped me. Rebekah is her baby. She loves the girls and they love her. It is so sweet to see the little ones hugging and kissing the "old ones". We try to visit as often as we can.

Stories. We all have them to share. We need to listen to the stories of those who have come before us and share them with those who come after us. The story of the crybabies was inspiring. I think they were called crybabies because you feel like crying like a baby after doing all that stirring and your arm feels like it is about to fall off!

Have a wonderful, Merry Christmas.