February 2, 2010 @ 3:21 pm
Talk, Learn, Change
Renaissance Assisted Living, Driggs, ID (6)
As June shouted “Anne,” I looked straight ahead and raised my arms to catch the ball. We’d begun the day with arm and leg lifts but now, I was surrounded by a group of mature women who by all accounts were acting as if their lives had just begun. We were completing daily exercise routines by tossing colored beach balls and the ladies were shouting, laughing and playing in ways reminiscent of times in my childhood.
Soon after we were just like teenagers, giving manicures and chatting about who we were. As I painted nails in red and pink hues, I listened to those who had lived in Idaho for years, and loved nothing more than their days in the mountains watching the sun rise and set. I listened to one talk about her Denver upbringing and I loved walking with Ina, hearing about her children and grandchildren, their birthdays and careers. Also her sister, and how although they hadn’t seen one another in years, they talk all the time. They were curious with who I was, my family and my work. I talked about my move to Atlanta, being bullied as a younger sister and how I miss Kentucky for at least a second nearly everyday.
The morning had come to an end so with a recipe from one of the ladies, we ate lunch all together in a kitchen just like home. We talked about our guilty pleasures; chocolate and ice cream, cupcakes and covered cherries. It was so easy to see that above all, these ladies yearned for nothing more than a friendly ear to listen. I was incredibly honored and happy to oblige. As I grow older, I’m learning more and more that ideas I used to have, the beliefs I used to defend no longer represent who I am. I am finding that as I listen to those who are older, those wiser, those different from me, I’m changing, I believe for the better.
As I left today I saw the tears fill Ina’s bright eyes. My arms wrapped around her as I held so tightly to this amazing woman. I was certain that our friendship would continue…she was after all a born New Yorker; I was a Kentuckian with New York sized dreams. Ina, Ellen and all of the people I met today, make me want to live. They make me want a life that’s full of pictures, home movies and stories like theirs; stories with children, travel and happy holidays. My future isn’t clear but I know I’ll have stories; stories like this one, that make me love each moment, know that life is worth living with only the wonder of what will happen next. Finally, these are the days to live, and they’re mine for the taking.
