Do it while you can
My mother in law is an amazing woman. Known as GB to her 5 sons and 6 grandchildren, Grandma Betty lives in Aiken, South Carolina where she moved from Long Island, NY when she was around 70. She is now 87 and happily living in a golfing community where she maintains her own home. She is very active in her church and many community and civic affairs. Her physical activities are limited a bit since having to carry portable oxygen, but it really hasn’t slowed her down; she accepts this with characteristic good humor.
When I started writing this blog I asked GB if she would add her thoughts. Her main advice was to make changes in your life while you are still young enough to adjust to their new environments. Making new friends, learning new skills are easier for a younger senior. GB intends to move to her church retirement facility when she is no longer interested in maintaining her home. She has done an Excel spread sheet detailing every single item in her home, its provenance and to whom it is bequeathed.
For my sweet little mother in law who is as delicate as a tiny bird, has made the computer her friend. She is famous for her personalized greeting cards; she manipulates all the family photos including all the slides scanned from family trips over the years. She is included in all the emails that fly between the family members on both coasts each day. Especially important are the daily photos of her 2 year old great granddaughter Harmony in California. Through the computer she followings this child’s daily antics.
The emails I receive from her are the most precious to me; sometimes a brief remark, sometimes a longer commentary, but quickly available to me with the click of her Send key. Thus we have an immediate connection and share our thoughts and observations. In this way her world is large and filled with love, connected to friends and family. At a time when it could seem an older person’s life is being limited with shrinking boundaries, hers is growing larger and richer.