Barbara J. Hamby

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Cute Stories About my Elderly Aunt

When I get up into my eighties in a few more years, I may dispute the allegation that 87 is elderly. This aunt of whom I speak tells of her mother mowing her own lawn when she was 100 years old. True, she had to have someone start the gas mower for her, but she did the rest.

Anyway, my elderly aunt, age 87, recently had eye surgery. After the surgery, she was required to spend eight days lying face down. She found it to be very difficult, especially when she got up and looked in the mirror at all the wrinkles she’d acquired. She reported that she wondered who that old hag was. She had never looked like that. She blamed the “new” wrinkles on lying on her face for so long.

Her son and daughter-in-law had warned me not to laugh at her story when we stopped by to see her. They believe she is convinced it is true. Never mind that the purpose of the eye surgery was to improve her vision, or the fact that her memory is failing.

My cousin’s wife, her daughter-in-law, emailed me another cute health-related story about this aunt. She told them she had called her doctor’s office to make an appointment for a bone density test. The doctor’s office personnel told her she had the test six months before. She was convinced that they were wrong because a friend told her you had to be “buck naked” for that test and she was sure she’d remember that.

It is not surprising that her memory is worsening. In the last few years she has lost her husband, a son, her mother, and a sister. That’s a painful lot of grief for one person to have to bear. In spite of all that, she is unfailingly cheerful and always good company. We enjoyed every minute of our all-too-short visit with her in Chico.