lunch with Mary Alice and Enid
I love hanging out with my older friends. Now that I am retreaded, I have more time to do this and to listen to their stories without being in a hurry to get somewhere else to get some unnamed thing done that probably in the end, wouldn't be as important as visiting with my friends. I have time not to be impatient.
Mary Alice is one of my "Church Girls" (see my post called "Why I go to Church)". I am not sure but I think she is 89. She was born in Mississippi and raised on a dairy farm. She has a creamy white porcelain complexion and a nice cloud of soft white hair that I bet has never been dyed. Her skin has not been damaged much by the sun (because good Southern girls wore hats and didn't sunbathe). She moved to Colorado as a young bride and then to Utah in the late 60's. Enid, who is 84, is my sweet neighbor. She and I go out most Saturdays for lunch or rice pudding. Sometimes we go to a coffee shop that is frequented by the hip and with it youngsters with their tats, fishnet stockings, and piercings. They are nice to us and Enid enjoys seeing them, I think. We are always the oldest people there, by many years. But that rice pudding is the best comfort food besides scrambled eggs ever! Enid is now a widow. Her husband lived till he was 99. I also wrote a blog about him a while back. Both these ladies are inspiring to me in that they are so positive and strong and have been through so much. And inside, they are still girls. They give me hope for the future. They have been where I am in many ways, but I have not been where they are. I hope I get there though.
Enid is always apologetic about "taking my time". Her mom died when she was only 6 years old. All of her old friends are dead and she says that leaves her with a very empty feeling and that I help to fill that. She is thoughtful - when my dad died, she didn't know it, but felt something wasn't right and came over with biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs. It was perfect. Mary Alice has this habit of taking my face in both her hands and looking at me with such love that I feel guilty for not being perfect. In her eyes I think I am. She then kisses me on the cheek as if I am the most precious thing in the world. It makes me feel good.
Today Mary Alice invited Enid and I to lunch. I sat back and just absorbed their conversation - both of them are a little (maybe a lot) hard of hearing but they took that into account with each other. The topic of the conversation was how they met their husbands, and what the first years of married life were like. They remembered how when someone had a communicable disease, like diphtheria or pertussis, they had to quarantine their homes - a big sign was placed on the door and no one could go in or out. If someone in the family died, they would put a black wreathe or flag in the window so everyone would know and the neighbors would bring things in for the family. They talked about how they rinse off sour kraut with plenty of water to get some of the vinegar taste out of it and then cook it with brown sugar. They are contemporaries and have a lot in common and it was fun to hear them talk to each other.
Mary Alice met her husband when she was going to school in Alabama. She danced with him at a dance even though he had another date. Then they dated and he had to go away to military school but they visited each weekend. One weekend she went to see him and he said "Let's get married". She hadn't met his parents nor had he met hers. She called her parents and then got married that weekend, despite her daddy telling her she was crazy. They have been married for 67 years now! They had known each other for less than a year when they got married. After her 5 kids grew up, when she was 50 she got a job as a school teacher (having gone back to school and got her teaching degree). She worked another 16 years and retired.
Enid met Vic when she sang in a band at the VFW club. He had been married before and had two sons. They dated for 6 months and got married in Las Vegas. She sang in Vic's band for many years in Wendover (Vic played the trumpet) and other places. They loved to camp and go up in the mountains and make breakfast. They had one daughter. Enid had a beauty shop in her basement for a while too. They were married for 56 years when Vic died. Of course, Enid still misses him.
I brought pictures of my grandson, and they loved looking at them. That's another thing....too many of our pictures are on our camera or the computer. We have to start printing them so we can share them with friends like these ladies who don't use computers.
Mary Alice asked me how Bruce and I met. They were interested in my story but I was more interested in listening to them...they had so much history to talk about. I sat there soaking it all in and really wishing that I had listened more to my grandparents and my parents. Don't we all wish that? What I wouldn't give to just be able to ask my mom about her and my dad. Or my grandma - how did grandma M. meet grandpa? I know even less about Grandma and Grandpa O. I don't think any kid ever takes as much time as they should to really listen to older people and their wisdom. I wish I would have taped conversations with them. Actually I think the majority of the world ignores old people which is sad, since they have so much wisdom.
My old friends accept me for who I am, and seem surprised that I would want to spend time with them. They give me so much more than they know. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
Mary Alice is one of my "Church Girls" (see my post called "Why I go to Church)". I am not sure but I think she is 89. She was born in Mississippi and raised on a dairy farm. She has a creamy white porcelain complexion and a nice cloud of soft white hair that I bet has never been dyed. Her skin has not been damaged much by the sun (because good Southern girls wore hats and didn't sunbathe). She moved to Colorado as a young bride and then to Utah in the late 60's. Enid, who is 84, is my sweet neighbor. She and I go out most Saturdays for lunch or rice pudding. Sometimes we go to a coffee shop that is frequented by the hip and with it youngsters with their tats, fishnet stockings, and piercings. They are nice to us and Enid enjoys seeing them, I think. We are always the oldest people there, by many years. But that rice pudding is the best comfort food besides scrambled eggs ever! Enid is now a widow. Her husband lived till he was 99. I also wrote a blog about him a while back. Both these ladies are inspiring to me in that they are so positive and strong and have been through so much. And inside, they are still girls. They give me hope for the future. They have been where I am in many ways, but I have not been where they are. I hope I get there though.
Enid is always apologetic about "taking my time". Her mom died when she was only 6 years old. All of her old friends are dead and she says that leaves her with a very empty feeling and that I help to fill that. She is thoughtful - when my dad died, she didn't know it, but felt something wasn't right and came over with biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs. It was perfect. Mary Alice has this habit of taking my face in both her hands and looking at me with such love that I feel guilty for not being perfect. In her eyes I think I am. She then kisses me on the cheek as if I am the most precious thing in the world. It makes me feel good.
Today Mary Alice invited Enid and I to lunch. I sat back and just absorbed their conversation - both of them are a little (maybe a lot) hard of hearing but they took that into account with each other. The topic of the conversation was how they met their husbands, and what the first years of married life were like. They remembered how when someone had a communicable disease, like diphtheria or pertussis, they had to quarantine their homes - a big sign was placed on the door and no one could go in or out. If someone in the family died, they would put a black wreathe or flag in the window so everyone would know and the neighbors would bring things in for the family. They talked about how they rinse off sour kraut with plenty of water to get some of the vinegar taste out of it and then cook it with brown sugar. They are contemporaries and have a lot in common and it was fun to hear them talk to each other.
Mary Alice met her husband when she was going to school in Alabama. She danced with him at a dance even though he had another date. Then they dated and he had to go away to military school but they visited each weekend. One weekend she went to see him and he said "Let's get married". She hadn't met his parents nor had he met hers. She called her parents and then got married that weekend, despite her daddy telling her she was crazy. They have been married for 67 years now! They had known each other for less than a year when they got married. After her 5 kids grew up, when she was 50 she got a job as a school teacher (having gone back to school and got her teaching degree). She worked another 16 years and retired.
Enid met Vic when she sang in a band at the VFW club. He had been married before and had two sons. They dated for 6 months and got married in Las Vegas. She sang in Vic's band for many years in Wendover (Vic played the trumpet) and other places. They loved to camp and go up in the mountains and make breakfast. They had one daughter. Enid had a beauty shop in her basement for a while too. They were married for 56 years when Vic died. Of course, Enid still misses him.
I brought pictures of my grandson, and they loved looking at them. That's another thing....too many of our pictures are on our camera or the computer. We have to start printing them so we can share them with friends like these ladies who don't use computers.
Mary Alice asked me how Bruce and I met. They were interested in my story but I was more interested in listening to them...they had so much history to talk about. I sat there soaking it all in and really wishing that I had listened more to my grandparents and my parents. Don't we all wish that? What I wouldn't give to just be able to ask my mom about her and my dad. Or my grandma - how did grandma M. meet grandpa? I know even less about Grandma and Grandpa O. I don't think any kid ever takes as much time as they should to really listen to older people and their wisdom. I wish I would have taped conversations with them. Actually I think the majority of the world ignores old people which is sad, since they have so much wisdom.
My old friends accept me for who I am, and seem surprised that I would want to spend time with them. They give me so much more than they know. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
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