With Time Comes Words

This is what happens when I have time! I write! I love it, but I also love not having the time to put together my thoughts; to be so insanely busy I can hardly hold my head up at night. Not the case here in Auburn, but Grandma and I do manage to stay quite busy with meals at 8, noon and 5. 8 o’clock seems to roll around fast and I’m in bed not much after that! For those of you who know me, which most of you do, that must be hard to believe. I’m still adjusting to it myself ☺

Some more things I’m learning here are about how I want to get old. I want to be healthy, do puzzles like my mother and grandmother. I don’t do that now, so chances are I won’t, but one thing I do miss is playing basketball. I’ll try to put that together on some leg of this life. For now it’s walking. Next week it’ll be walking the grand streets of New York. I can’t wait to see her!

I want to stay active. It’s hard to see my grandma balk at the suggestion of going to the casino, formerly one of her favorite activities. She spends a lot of time sleeping, at least when she’s not eating she does. I guess it’s pretty good for 83! She is bright eyed today, which makes me smile. I think she’s getting used to me being around.

So, here are some things I want as I get older. When I’m in a “retirement residence” I want real food. I love eating at these scheduled times. My body seems to be in nutritional bliss and I don’t overeat. (Generally speaking, except some Thin Mints last night. They were my most recent victim.) (Why I feel the need for full disclosure is completely unknown to me.) The only thing I don’t like about my new regimen of structured meal time is that it all comes from Sysco. That great institutional food provider in the sky. The food they hand out is exactly what I ate in elementary through high school, which by the way, I think my folks paid too much to them for us to eat tatter tots and pizza. Anyway, we were waaay better off than most kids, so I’ll eat those words. But leave them in print, so, thusly, only sort of eating them.

Real food. From a Farmer’s Market. I’ll have to consider the agricultural success of a region when choosing where to retire. Which, by the time I’m 76, will be quite a consideration, considering how we’re treating our land now. Who could ever say agriculture of our nation doesn’t affect them? Who could ever say it’s not political?

The other thing I want is to have people of all ages around me. I want to live in a college town with a lot of college students around and young professors with sweet little children running around. Integration of generations is absolutely essential. We do it so poorly now.

I don’t remember what city I was in (Brooklyn maybe?) where there was a building labeled “Senior Center and Pre School”. NOW you’re talking. Integration gives everyone perspective and knowledge one cannot gain from books or movies or film strips (remember those?). Human interaction. It’s the only way to go. And when a kid doesn’t find a niche with his/her peers, maybe they’ll find one in an old engineer who just wants to tell his stories and be around a wee ball of energy. That benefits everyone.

I wasn’t going to say integration of generations as the other thing I wanted, but I can’t remember what it was that I did want, so that was a good second. OH! I do know! I want lots of elevators in my retirement residence. So we can all get down to a meal on time and at once. Maybe just a chute, like they have at banks. Until I can be beamed somewhere, chutes will have to do. You have to think an activity like that and the giggling that inevitably ensues would keep you young. Not that that’s necessarily the goal; it would at least cause some fun.

I also want lots of music. In my grandma's place the intercom system is at a constant low buzz. Dare I say it drives me a little mad. When I'm old, I'd like to hear some Dave Matthews, David Grey, Dave Brubeck. And people other than those named David, or some derived name there of, too. Maybe some Ani DiFranco, just to keep me on my toes. And the Garden State soundtrack.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Please read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert! Each section is a charm unto itself. I have a whole other post to write about God, spirituality, my great fortune and love of the world and universe, but lunch is in 30 minutes and I have to go wake my grandma up.

xo