My mother turned 75 last month. She’s in pretty good health for an old lady who raised eight kids and has 19 grandchildren. My dad passed away 23 years ago, and Mom turned out to be quite the survivor — she went to work for Kelly Girls as a permatemp for many years, finished raising my younger siblings, and has retained her independence.
So she kept the car — carrying the insurance and maintenance costs on her limited budget, because of what the car stood for. This disease is progressive, however, and despite all treatments, Mom recently came to terms with the fact that she is a danger to self and others on the road. The car had to go.
On a beautiful sunny day last week she took the car out for one last trip to her hairdresser. When she returned, she turned the keys over to Brandon, a great guy who’s been dating my niece, Elizabeth. Brandon needed a new car, and who can pass up a deal like this one — the car is ten years old, only has 20,000 miles on it, and was (literally!) only driven by a little old lady to the local mall, church on Sundays… and her hairdresser.
Grandma Mary Ann has cheerfully moved on to the next phase of her life — a little more dependent on others, yet still independent… and always still Smilin’!
P.S. She does NOT color her hair. I hope I still have that much dark hair on my head 22 years from now!
God Bless your mom for her wonderful attitude about life and her ability to keep on smiling! My mother is turning 77 this month and she is not nearly in as good of shape as your mom. My mother in law raised 7 kids and your mom reminds me of her, paritcularly the full head of brown hair with little gray. Despite my husband’s insistence that she doesn’t color her hair, I suspected that she did. Now seeing your mom I guess there are people in their 70’s who actually don’t color their hair! I’m 53 and I have to!
Age is an attitude, according to Mom. That’s what it comes down to! Jim