Mother's Birthday Party

Mother's church recently gave a birthday party for her and her best friend. Mother will be 92 next week and her friend is 97. Another friend who is 102 was also there along with about 25 well wishers. A woman who often makes pound cakes made the cake, and ice cream was provided. There were balloons (one of which got whacked by the ceiling fan, but that did not stop it from singing Happy Birthday in a very electronic voice). A good time was had by all. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate a long life well lived.
Mother was very interested in my daughter's recent trip to Egypt in part because she had been there herself years ago. She is still very interested in the same things she has always liked- birds, butterflies, and all sorts animals and bugs as well as flowers and other plant life. Although her ability to get around is severely curtailed by a stroke, and she does not hear or see very well, she is still the same woman she has always been in all the important ways. Although she is prevented from going to church by her condition,her interest still lies with the church at the crossroads and those who attend there.
We who are her family and friends have much to be thankful for as she still prays for us and provides an example of how to cope with what to her must be a terrible health situation.
When my granddaddy had quit driving because of his age, one day he drove to Mother's house. She ran out to meet him, sure that something was wrong. What he said provided me with a window to the future and helped me understand that the basic part of a person never changes. He said to Mother,"Your mother is driving me crazy." Although we have laughed about this in all the years since, that a man that old could still be driven wild by his wife is purely a reflection of what he had always been. The same things that drive us to distraction when we are young will still do the same in old age. We often do not know how to cope with a person who was always vibrant and has become weak and frail. It is helpful to remember that they are the same people in their hearts and minds.