A quote
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”—Madeleine L’Engle
Something I’m thinking about
Yesterday I went to the supermarket. This by itself would not have been very eventful. However, I noticed an old lady in the parking lot. She was walking insanely slowly. I almost couldn’t believe it. When I came back out, she had not gotten a lot further.
So, I walked up to her and asked her whether she needed any help.
She said, “Oh, yes, that would be kind. You know, I hurt my hip a while ago, and now I’m not that fast anymore.”
We contemplated for a bit how I could best help her. We tried having her take my arm and me taking her shopping trolley. That didn’t work. We tried me assisting her in walking. Nope, that was no good, either. I briefly thought about throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her (because this was madness). But I quickly abandoned that idea too.
I wasn’t sure what to do anymore.
While I was still befuddled, she started sharing things about her life.
She told me, “You know, when I was younger, I liked Jaguars very much.
“The car?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She responded, “Do they still make those?” She asked me.
“Sure,” I said.
“Are they expensive?” She wanted to know.
I wasn’t sure. I’m not much into cars. “I don’t think they’ll be cheap.” I told her.
“Well, maybe I’ll get lucky playing the lottery one day.” She contemplated with a bit of a sad undertone in her voice.
I was still having difficulties grasping her walking speed. “Is there no way I can help you?” I asked again, “This way it will take forever for you to get anywhere.”
“Oh, I’ll just take my time. It’s my hip, you know?” She explained.
Unbothered and clearly not in a hurry, she continued, “I used to have a kitty cat. But it slipped out the door one day when I wasn’t quick enough to stop it… You know that in Egypt in the olden days, they deemed cats sacred? If you harmed a cat, they would kill you.” She told me very seriously.
I nodded and said, “Wow.”
“I’ve been to Egypt. When I was younger, I went. Now, I don’t really feel like it anymore.”
I nodded again. Since I didn’t know what else I could do, I told her, “Well, I wish you all the best.”
She looked up and said, “Thank you. And may you always be so kind. I wish you to live to be 120 years old. 120 years old and still kind. And then, when you are 120, you’ll think back to that old woman who told you you were going to be 120. And you’ll wonder, ‘Wow, maybe she had special powers.’”