Her wispy hair looked a little matted, like she had put a hat on when her hair was wet. Her back was so hunched that she'd lost the ability to lift her head straight up to look at you. Instead she turned her head to the side and then looked up as far as possible. Her movements reminded me of a little bird. But her eyes. They were so full of life and humour and energy that I liked her immediately. What she lacked in youthfulness of body she made up for in her eyes.
We spent some time talking about gardening and canning. She has already put up 120 quarts of fruit this year. When she told me that I said, "Oh, and peaches aren't here yet." She told me that one of the local stores would have them this very week and how much they were for a ten pound box. I haven't done any canning in several years but one summer I did can 160 pounds of peaches. When I told her that she said, "You must have gotten 50 quarts at least." I smiled to myself. 50 quarts is exactly how many jars I had when I was done canning those peaches.
We ate our meal together and there was a lot of laughter. She's a live wire, a term mostly reserved in my mind, for little kids. Which is something to aspire to when one is 80+ years old.
4 comments:
GrandpaR, my mom's dad, worked for Timothy E Eaton, the man, designing furniture most of his life. He made large scale model trains, every nut and bolt as a hobby and for years had one in the Ontario Science Center. In retirement he restored an old Jag E Type 2+2, painted in oils, did ironwork, took up photography. When grandma died unexpectedly of cancer he did not cancel but postponed their life time trip to China and at 86 made the trip on his own on the anniversary of her death. He died at age 90. I never saw him in anything, I swear, less than a shirt and tie - usually a bow tie.
God bless your young old friend.
Beth preserves greenbeens, turns tomatoes into salsa, and just last night put corn off the cob into the freezer. Wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your comment over on UTO about God's will being the little things....
Owen - I'm impressed - Eaton's brings back lots of memories for me. We shopped more at the Bay but Eaton's had better quality.
Jim - I have green beans to deal with and peas and raspberries but they're going to have to wait another day. I felt like I was getting ready to rant over at UTO's so reigned myself in!!
That's one reason I play so much scrabble: keeps my mind active. I want to be thinking and laughing and sharing joy if God lets me be here that long!
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