Aging
This post might start out sounding sound like a review but this book really got me thinking.
Water for Elephants was an amazing book. I read it in about 2 1/2 days. It is a great story told in first person and revolves around life in the circus. That's all I will reveal other than the main character is now in a nursing home.
His life and how old he is now is what really gave me pause. This aging thing is not anything I am looking forward to at all.
While reading about his life (the treatment of him by nursing home staff, his daily routine and the pace) I would actually put the book down and stop to imagine. Imagine the difference in my life now and what it could be one day.
1. I never have enough time in the day vs. Watching the slow ticking clock and another identical day of meals in the dining room, naps and staring at a t.v. set
2. Independence vs. the inability to even drive a car
3. Mobility vs. wheelchair bound
4. Being treated with respect vs. being patronized by others
5. Freedom of choice vs. "This is what you get"
It struck me that one day this life I have now of rushing kids to and fro, cooking meals, attending meetings at school, dinner engagements, and work engagements, would all taper off one day. When it does, I want to make sure I have lots of memories in which to retreat.
What memories would you enjoy reliving? Yes, we all know the birth of children rank up there at the top, as do wedding days, but think beyond those...
Particularly vivid memories (I didn't say they were good or bad, just memories) are these:
* 7th grade: my friends and I decided to "Ding, Dong, Ditch" another friend's house. I will never forget that bitter taste of fear when while hiding next to her mailbox (behind a few trashbags) her parents' decided they would walk the street and really investigate these pesky kids who rang their doorbell. I just knew they could hear my heart pound and my heavy breathing. When they announced they were going back in for the flashlight, I ran like I had NEVER run before....
* Bike riding with my boys and husband through a downtown art park on a perfect Saturday. Then going to a diner and having burgers and malts for lunch.
* The day I surprised my boyfriend with a weekend at a fabulous hotel (bags were already packed and in the car) and he surprised me back by proposing....I said yes!
* Christmas when I was 16. There was a funny shaped gift under the tree to me from my dad. When I opened it, it was a garage door remote. He gave me his spot in the garage for the rest of the time I lived at home. No more icy windshields, no more warming up the car, no more running in the rain....actions speak louder than words and my dad screamed "I love you!" with that gesture.
Your turn....
posted by DebbieDoesLife at
8:14 PM
7 Comments:
some of my most vivid memories (in no particular order)....
* singing for high mass in St. Peter's at the Vatican this summer.
* getting a phone call 20 years ago telling us that our son had been born and that he was all ours
* being in the delivery room when my granddaughter was born
* watching my daughter play Langham Creek High School in volleyball
By
Anonymous, at 10/25/2007 6:36 AM
I'd like to relive my wedding, not for the sappy sentimental reasons, but because it was one of the best parties I've ever thrown or even been at, and I missed a lot of it.
I'd like to relive much of the fourth grade, so that I could once again enjoy the crushes I had on Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy. Nothing is better than those teen idol crushes.
And then there was the day, about 2 months ago, when I was sitting on the beach about 5pm with a glass of wine in my hand, hubby next to me with his Jack, and my kids skim-boarding in the surf. Yeah. That's a day I'd like to relive over and over and over...
By
Candy, at 10/25/2007 9:17 AM
Oh my goodness, that garage door remote story has me all teary! How sweet!
By
B.E.C.K., at 10/25/2007 9:42 AM
What a lovely post!!
I remember the day my parents sent me to a friend's house to play, and then my dad called me that afternoon and told me I had a new baby sister!
And I remember the day my boyfriend told me he wanted to go running in Central Park, so I threw on a dirty t-shirt and running shoes, and tied my greasy hair up in a ponytail. And he surprised me by getting down on one knee and proposing to me in the middle of the Park, surrounded by thousands of people who cheered and clapped.
By
teahouse, at 10/25/2007 10:01 PM
This past weekend definitely goes into the hall of fame.
Also the day Jeff and I spent in Park City Utah at the 2002 Olympics.
There are just too many to list!
By
Anonymous, at 10/29/2007 7:28 PM
This is easy.
•The birth of each of our children.
•The night my wife and I drank a bottle of champagne as we rode through Central Park, in a carriage driven by an IRA terrorist, after I had won an award at the Plaza Hotel.
•Another night in NYC when my wife came to visit me while I was there on a two-week job. It was her first time away from our first child. We had been given tickets to Les Miserables, a musical which should turn any father into a blubbering mess. We left the theater and found a little Italian restaurant a couple of streets over. We closed the place down as the waiter, who was leaving for Italy the next day, kept giving us free grappa as he extoled it's marvelous romantic powers.
By
Anonymous, at 10/30/2007 8:42 AM
Great post!!
I would relive kissing Hoop under a full moon, hip deep in the ocean during the first month we were together.
The weekend a girlfriend and I snuck off to Orlando for the weekend. We were 17. The hotel clerk didn't even check out IDs.
My 16th birthday. Mom surprised me with a week getaway to Orlando, just the two of us. It was the first time I didn't have to share her with anyone.
By
Tink, at 10/30/2007 2:41 PM
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