Thursday, May 19, 2011

Old Friends



I am very fortunate. I have always been very fortunate to have made all through out my lifetime some very wonderful friends, the best kind of friends. The kind of friends that you can share anything with them and they will understand, relate, laugh, cry, empathize and sympathize. Yes, I am fortunate to have been blessed in this way. I never did anything to deserve such a blessing.

I am discovering at my mother's senior retirement living complex that I can even make friends there. To befriend some of these elderly ladies is a truly, wonderful thing. My latest friend is 95 years young. I love talking to her. She makes a point to ask my mother when I will be visiting so she can stop by and we can talk. I love hearing her stories of what life was like 90 years ago. She talks of the milkman delivering those little bottles of milk on her family's front porch. She talks of the iceman delivering ice for their 'ice box'. It is just a pleasure to talk to her. Plus, she likes my stories too! She often asks me my opinion of what I think about the latest news or fashion. She is really a treasure trove of information.

Last week, she stopped by just to show me her wedding picture of when she got married at age 21. She was gorgeous! The picture had been colorized and she had vibrant red hair and was wearing a brown lace dress with a matching hat. She and her new husband were standing in front of a church along with their closest friends who "stood up" with them. It was a lovely, lovely picture. I could tell as I watched her that the memory of it seemed as if it was yesterday.

It got me to thinking. Life is over so quickly. This is not really "life" is it? We were born into death. We are heading toward death from the second we arrive on the planet. Everything on the planet will ultimately relinquish itself to death. Even the planet is dying. The sun is burning out. Life is not anything we will ever know here. When we die here, we will finally begin to live. Life will be the appropriate word to use then. Then, we will  know the meaning of what it truly is to live.

1 comment:

Linda Jacobs said...

I know what you mean about speaking with older people; they are truly treasures!

Love the buttons on your creation. We've been moving my MIL out of her home and, today, I found a couple of old button cards with tiny pearl buttons still attached plus a whole tin of buttons. That's a treasure, too!