You NEVER Know!

I have blogged before that I do an awful lot with elderly women. Many of the organizations I volunteer with are comprised of women significantly older than myself. I actually love it. They are hysterical and knowledgeable. The only difference between them and me is their bodies are actually breaking down and mine just feels like it.

Today was a meeting for a group I’m in that does a lot for the blind. We raise money and buy dogs for organizations to be trained as Seeing Eye Dogs. We collect glasses for the various organizations that use them for the indigent. We send children to the Lion’s Club camp for blind children. I love the work we do in this group. And they’re a great group of women… of which, other than 1 or two women in their 50s, I am the youngest by 30 years.

I was talking to one woman today who is 93. I’ve blogged on her before. She’s the woman from THIS (Real Men Plan Their Own Mother's Funerals) post who was talking about the fierce hair. I was asking her how she was doing as she looked pretty darn good. She told me she is not well, that 3 of her heart valves are leaking, so she tries not to fall so her heart doesn’t give out. The woman is no bigger than a minute. Itty bitty thing. Can you imagine ‘trying not to fall’? She still lives alone, but her ‘boys’ took her car keys. Thank God. I do get a kick when she talks about her boys, like they are 20 year old man/boys. The oldest just turned 70.

Anyway, she took my hand and said, ‘The reason I’ve lived so long as I used to walk 9 miles a day. I always took care of myself. They’re paying all these silly people to do these studies on something I knew all along.” It was funny.

So where am I going with this? We have bought an unborn puppy that is to arrive in January and it is planned that it will go through this Seeing Eye Dog training. The trainer is waiting and we get to name it. They’re throwing names around and this 78 year old woman next to me says, “We should name it Veeger”. Blank stares from everyone. She looks at everyone and says, “Obviously I need to explain this… there is this episode in Star Trek…”

I didn’t make it any further than that, nor did the woman across from me. After she finished the woman across from me said, “Let me get this straight… you watch Star Trek.” I cracked up. I’m still laughing. Ahhhh…. Good times.