Not sure how this is going to go but will give it a try...But first...I got a call last night from my sister Bobbie...She is back home with Jim in their little paradise, lake front property near the City of McAlister, Oklahoma...Her surgery (yesterdays blog) went well, she sounded good and is so happy to be back home.
Disclaimer--Dates and ages are approximate, but close...Opinions my own.
"Old" -- For those of you reading my blog that are not familiar with my family I will give a little background...I have longevity in my genes, at least on the maternal side...Jessie Parkin, my grandmother, lived to be 93 and stayed in her own home alone up until about the last year of her life...Aunt Lavinia died in her late 70's...My mother Blanche lived to see her 96th birthday and lived alone up until the last two months of her life...Aunt Jessie lived to her 97th birthday but suffered from dementia and required care for her later years...Aunt Peggy still living at 95...There were 6 boys in this family and several of them lived into their 70's-80's with one reaching I believe 99.
The middle child in my immediate family our brother George died in 2007 at age 73...He the father of 6 girls was married to Marlene, a tumultuous relationship that lasted about 30 years...Their love for each other was deep but emulated "water and oil"...Their older girls grew up learning how to ride snowmobiles and 4-wheelers and the younger girls took up swimming...Winters were spent playing in the snow and summer days at pool side as George and Marlene timed races and cheered...In his lifetime, George worked in the logging industry, as a sawer, then owned a saw shop and later worked as a scaler and retired from Boise Cascade (timber industry)...Near retirement he married Clare...They had a large garden and George learned to make pickles and canned almost everything he grew...They snowmobiled and rafted the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers with family and friends...Clare died in 1998...Georges last years were difficult as his physical condition deteriorated and he stubbornly remained in his home with his ever faithful dog, Goldie...His girls helped when he allowed it and tried to make his life easier, cooking and freezing meals for him, scheduling and taking him to doctors appointments, cleaning and painting his home...It was sad losing a brother and father at this relatively young age but as alcohol ravaged his body and mind, the scene was set...Friends and family attended a memorial, celebrated his life and his girls once again gathered around him, scattering his ashes in the forests he loved.
Another day dawns, life moves on, will my longevity genes propel me past the golden years and into really old age?...Its a good thing we don't know what life holds for us but I do know that right now I have been sitting in this chair too long and can feel rigger-mortis setting in so I better move before it is too late...Hugs to all....OWAV:)
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