Last night I got a birthday card from my Aunt Irma, my dad's sister. No matter that it is a few weeks late. There is a three page letter enclosed, and I am savoring it a half page at a time.
My aunt has an apartment in a place for seniors. She is still one step from assisted living, even though she uses a walker. I am so glad that she has her own space. She has made the most of it, growing flowers in a planter on her balcony. She writes the details of her blooms, and says that she takes care of the geraniums by the front door of her building.
She tells me that many of the people in the building are NOT using walkers, and they could be doing things like helping with the flowers, but they would rather just "sit on their butts and complain." Yup, that's my Aunt Irma! We are a long lived and hardy lot, and part of it is our penchant for work. We really do enjoy it! If your choice is to sit with a bunch of people and join in the complaining or stare mindlessly at a TV screen or go outside and weed some flowers, every Siemers I know will choose the weeds!
I feel so grateful that I still have two aunts who are living, Aunt Irma and my namesake, Auntie Vey. Auntie Vey still lives on the farm, and until the doctor banned her from her tractor a couple of months ago, mowed a two-acre lawn with a 25 hp John Deere. I'm not sure of their ages, but I think Auntie Vey is now 94, and Aunt Irma is 92.
What is so remarkable is that their minds are good, their handwriting steady, and they have retained their sense of humor - AND their ability to work!
As we move into fall, which happened upon us last night at 11:09 p.m., I am reminded that no matter what the season of our lives, there is much to be thankful for.
Blessed be!
No comments:
Post a Comment