Having silver hair doesn’t mean I don’t know what day it is
I don’t mind being ‘an old lady’; I am happy with my life at this time. Disappointments and hurts are in the past – and forgiven – and I look forward to each day, knowing something wonderful could happen. Living with that attitude is a miracle in itself and a great distance from where I have been.
All of us have ‘pet peeves’ but one thing, for me, is past the peeve stage. Too many consider that being ‘old’ equals being ‘stupid’. Their conversations indicate that someone probably needs to bring me in from the rain. They don’t realize that they are treading on dangerous ground. I am not an angry person because I choose not to be. I AM ticked off when someone assumes that, because of my age, I am swimming in the Alzheimer’s Pond. I might be there in the future but at the present I am not.
Two conversations of the past week; one, after I sent a 30-day notice to my lawn service.
He: “Mrs. Z., I got this typed letter; I don’t know if this is your signature. Do you know about this letter?”
Me: “Of course I know about the letter! Do you think that I could have written the letter and signed it without knowing about it?” (Does he think that I can’t type?)
Then he starts yelling at me (trying to intimidate me) and I asked, “Why are you so angry?”
He: “You agreed that my service could cut your lawn.”
Me: “… and now I’m giving you a 30-day notice to STOP cutting my lawn.”
He: “You can’t do that…”
At this point my daughter, who doesn’t like me to get upset because of high blood pressure, took the phone and told him that I could decide whether I want his service…plus a few more words…
Example two: as I made an appointment on the phone for a mammogram…in a city an hour’s drive from where I live.
She: “Let’s get you scheduled for a mammogram; have you had one before?”
Me: “Yes, I have. I will be there next Tuesday, could I have it then?”
She: “That would be fine, at 3:15, okay?”
Me: “That is good; I will be there.”
She: “Have you had a mammogram?”
Me: “Yes, I’ve had several and everything was okay; but I didn’t have one last year. I was visiting in another state.”
She: “We will see you then. Did you have a mammogram before?”
Me: “Yes, I told you I had several in the past.”
Makes one wonder which one is stupid.
Example three: I wrote a letter to the editor of a weekly newspaper, sharing that I could not find the graves of two baby sons…buried in 1948 and 1961. The church has no record of those buried there. After reading the newspaper, the present pastor called me, saying he had also looked and did not find the graves. THEN he told me, “I figured that you forgot where you buried them.” HE should know better than to make such an insulting remark – to anyone!
So, until you KNOW that I’ve lost it, let our conversations be that of two people who are able to converse intelligently. Don’t act as if I can’t possibly understand what YOU are saying!!!
I am sure that other ‘older people’ are familiar with this attitude.
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Lura Zerick an 80-year-old great grandmother enjoys learning new things. Give her an Elvis song with a good beat and watch her go! Her favorite things are reading, listening to music, singing, cooking/baking, birds and words. She enjoys 12 great grandchildren and 6 great grand children; loves to encourage them o cook, write and sing, as well as use their other abilities. She can be reached at lzerick22(at)gmail.com
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