09/06/2022
This 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight oāclock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home yesterday. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. āI love it,ā she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
āMrs. Jones, you havenāt seen the room ā¦. just wait.ā
āThat doesnāt have anything to do with it,ā she replied. āHappiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesnāt depend on how the furniture is arranged, itās how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. Itās a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice;
I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open Iāll focus on the new day and all the happy memories Iāve stored away, just for this time in my life.ā
She went on to explain, āOld age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what youāve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.ā
And with a smile, she said: āRemember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less, & enjoy every moment.
Photograph by Karsten Thormaehlen