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Recently, I visited Mrs. B, a friend of mine who I have known for about 15 years. She retired from her career teaching school many years ago. Today she lives at Edgewood Place where she shares a room with another lady.
I remember when I first met her at Western Steakhouse. She was dressed as if she had just come from some important event. Rose knew her and introduced us. Then Mrs. B went and joined a friend she was meeting for lunch. The thing I most remembered was how she carried herself and her pleasant and inviting presence. There were several subsequent occasions when Mrs. B would sit and have lunch us. She was always a delight to be with. In our conversations, she told us about her family and her life. She had two daughters, one in Greensboro and the other in California. She was a widow and lived by herself near City Park in Burlington. I continued to be impressed that she always looked as if she had just come from some important event and her upbeat, positive presence made our time together memorable.
One day, about 3 years ago, I found out that Mrs. B had fallen and broken her hip and was now at Edgewood Place. I made it a practice to occasionally drop in and see her when I would go to see Waldean Taylor. Visiting Mrs. B, like visiting Waldean, was always an uplifting experience. Since Waldean passed away, I very occasionally drop in to see Mrs. B. In fact, it had been almost a year since I had last seen her when I dropped by July 1. When I walked in she was sitting in her wheelchair, reading a book, dressed as if she had just returned from an important event. Her face lit up with a big smile when she saw me and we sat and talked a while. I asked Mrs. B, “What would you attribute your ability to live such a long and healthy life to?” After a slight hesitation, she responded, “I really don’t know, every year I just get a year older. In fact, in less than two weeks I will be 99 years old.” I asked, “How have you managed to continue to have such a positive outlook?” She immediately responded, “Jim, I take all the bad stuff and I step on it” as she demonstrated by lifting her foot and pushing it to the floor in a mashing motion, “and all the good stuff, I put right here on my shoulder,” as she tapped her shoulder with her hand. I thanked her for sharing her wisdom and soon was on my way.
As your friend, I pass Mrs. B’s wisdom on to you.
God Bless,
Jim
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