Me: "Hello, Norman! How are you?"
Norman (on his way back from town, carrying two bags of shopping): "I'm fine, pet. If it wasn't for me back, I'd have nothing to complain about."
Me (just checking; Norman is fiercely independent): "What does the doctor say about it?"
Norman: "Just wear and tear, pet. Old age."
And off he goes, cheerfully, delighted to have been asked about by one of the "young girls", as he calls us neighbours.
He's 95 next month.
Lauritz Andersen Ring - Old man walking in a rye field
13 comments:
Norman knows the secret of longevity .
Go, Norman!
(And that's a lovely painting to illustrate it)
That's how *I* want to be when I'm 95. "Just wear and tear, pet".
I've had a similarly salutory conversation with my friend Marian this morning.
We have a neighbor who'll soon be 90 and though he does most of his walking with a walker he's always bright and cheerful, I'm sure that's the clue to a longer life.
It must be the bracing air up north! We just rust in the damp here.
How nice... and the painting is perfect.
They breed them tough in Newcastle!!
I knew an old chap like that who used to go out on day trips with other elderly people 20 years younger than them and worry about whether they'd be able to manage the day. 'She's getting on a bit,' he'd say about a 70 year old friend.
They make 'em like that in the north east. My soon to be 95 year old (blind) father in law lives on his own, cooks and cleans, shops, gets on the bus to the nearby coast a couple of times a week for some "sea air" and enjoys a Friday night game of dominoes with his mates in the local club. As for my own parents, they got to 92 and 94.
It's nice to be a young girl again, though I suppose it would be more flattering if Norman were, say, 80...
Good for Naorman and well done you for taking an interest in his day.
love
Lyn
xxx
What a pleasant exchange!
I'm inspired by old people who accept that they're old. In fact, I'm inspired by people who accept anything and just . . . live with it, cheerfully.
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