11/17/12

You know that you are old when....

there are more funerals on your weekly schedule than anything else. I had 3 this week alone.

My next door neighbor growing up passed away this week. She was 87.  I met her 40 years ago. I thought she was always old..... but I just realized at the funeral that she was my age when I met her. She was sort of my surrogate Grandmother in a way. She worked at our church, took care of us in case of emergencies and my Mother spent countless hours over at her house daily. They would drink coffee (instant) and discuss...well...I have no idea what they would discuss, but it took them hours. If my Mom wasn't home, I knew she was over there. Her husband (who passed away a few years ago) took care of our cars- he was a master Ford mechanic and he rebuilt my VW Beetle after a horrific accident and he took the motor out of my 64 Ford Fairlane  (the frame cracked) and rebuilt it and put it into my Brothers 1965 Mustang. They were the very nicest of people and will be missed.....

Today was another service. One of our friends fathers passed away from Lung cancer . He owned the local pizza place when I was growing up and I was friends with his sons. My parents were friends with him also- his wife and my Mom used to vacation together and there were many nights when they would stay up to all hours of the evening playing cards and laughing like loons...... When I moved away he used to send me frozen uncooked Strombolis (like a calzone)  to me in Texas with instructions on how to cook them so I could have a bit of home so far way.  When I moved back here and had my son he used to give my boy all sorts of little things when we'd go to visit- his favorite little Star Wars "magic box" came from one of those trips.

I'm too sad to write more.






3 comments:

Colleen said...

I had a neighbor like that growing up- her name was Miss Matthews and she taught me to knit, crochet, tat lace, etc. She passed away a few years ago and I was fortunate enough to be able to keep some of her furniture and other pieces. Every time I pull out a crochet hook to make a baby blanket as a gift, I think of her with a smile.

I am sorry you are having a tough few weeks.

thefarmersdaughter said...

Thank you. Mrs Pettit tried to teach me to crochet too.... I had forgotten that...... I failed miserably. Mrs. Pettit was from Lynchburg and was such a southern belle. Up here in Michigan it was very foreign- but so interesting!

Colleen said...

Mrs. Pettit sound lovely. Miss Matthews was from Michigan, and moved to DC and got a job as a secretary in the House of Representatives. She was a member of the National Geographic Society (attended weekly meetings) and traveled the world. She was in her 90s when she passed away a few years ago but wow she had a full life!