Last night we went to a dinner that one of Anna’s retired ex-co-workers gave. She is a widow.
Besides inviting us she also invited another retired co-worker and her husband, and another retired co-worker who is also a widow.
There were five of us. Three of them were about 87 years old and the hostess and I are both 66. Anna is younger by several years. Roughly figuring in my head, I think the average age of the dinner party was 75.
The invitation was for 6:00pm. We arrived at about 5:40. The others had already arrived. One thing, when partying with the elderly crowd you don’t have to worry about anyone being fashionably late.
When we first sat down to dine our light conversation was mostly about aches, pains, ailments, and medicine.
Eventually we got around discussing travel and the conversation turned interesting. The couple that is each about 87 has traveled quiet a bit. They lit up when they talked of the time they spent six weeks touring Australia about a year after they retired, and the cruises they have been on… and all the states they have visited…. They were enthusiastic about telling about their travels and acknowledged that their touring days are over…. They are just too old and sore to travel much anymore.
Then the hostess pulled out an in-house telephone book of the organization they worked for that she took with her when she retired – and they started going through the book looking at names they haven’t thought of in years and you could tell they were excited – they would pull a name out of the book and maybe one of them would remember whatever happened to him or her… I could sense their blood pressing rising as the organization’s phone book reminded them of people they haven’t thought of lately.
It was fun to watch their enthusiasm as they relived their own work days.
4 comments:
Wonderful post. Elderly people do have some wonderful stories to tell. We have a couple in our church that now live in an assisted living home. We try to visit them every few months. We should visit them more but it is hard since they are about an hour away from us. We do not have to worry about taking conversation with us because they have plenty of it to share. We just have to sit and listen and we are never bored with the stories they have to share. He is 95 and she is 91.
Andrea,
Thanks!
Listening to the elderly is very educational.... of course, that includes me!
Seriously, if one takes the time to listen to elderly people they have a lot to share.
The other male guest last night said years ago he and his wife visited a couple that the man was older than he was but had a lot of wit and profound thoughts. He decided when they visited this couple to bring along a little tiny notebook pad and a pen and record his wisdoms. I like that.
Eddie,
I'm sure that you and Anna had a wonderful time, some of my fondest memories are of the dinners that I had with my grandparents, their friends, and other seniors that I lived around or worked with. They are a joy.
Deborah,
It was enjoyable - a fun time was had by all.
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