Thursday, February 08, 2007

one day, you will not be as young.

i just got off the phone with one of my best friends. her name is halsie keith. she lives in walterboro and has been my neighbor for all of my life and even longer to my family. she was on my mind yesterday and so i called home to get her number from my mom. i just wanted to say 'hi' and catch up, you know? after halsie realized it was me, she immediately told me what was going on in her life. she told me about her day. she'd been to 3 doctors' appointments and had a polyp removed yesterday from her intestine and she's one a different blood thinner medication. and she was thankful. she was still 'healthy enough'. she told me that she loved me and to take care of myself. she'll be 88 years old this november.

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(journal from yesterday afternoon)

wednesday's are bobby's doctor appointment days. today we walked into the office and took our seats. we found an older couple (about 80 yrs older) sitting and waiting on their ride to come. we've seen them before. we've seen them waiting before.
a few seconds after we sit, the old woman asks from her wheelchair in a wobby and windy voice, "will one of you help me to my car?"
directly after, her husband kindly replied for us in a similar vibrating delivery, "now you just sit there and wait for our ride. they'll be here shortly."

silence.

she asks again, "will one of you help me to my car?"
"well, he just said you couldn't go anywhere," i reminded her. bobby giggles, sort of.

we talk for a little bit. a mom and her kids come in, the old woman asks them the same question. they exchange the same dialogue. there seems to be a little sympathy in the younger mother's eyes. they're ride comes. we say 'goodbye' and 'see you later'.

more silence.

as i'm in my seat, i glance over at the mom and her two boys playing on the sofa. the boys are probably not thinking that one day, they're mom's not going to be as young.

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i hope to live to be very old and healthy. at least healthy enough to hold decent conversations over the phone. i want to have younger friends in bigger cities to call me from time to time just to say 'hi'. that'd be cool.