91 years old; 5' high, almost blind, smart as a whip, and funnier than heck.

91 years old; 5' high, almost blind, smart as a whip, and funnier than heck.

This is a partial description of my "new"  (since 2007) friend Betty M.  (We are never too old to make new friends).

I was at her home on Thursday 30th October for 5:00 p.m. beverages and nibbles (and to visit with her son John, who was in town with his wife Karen, from their home in Colorado). ( Karen had hoved down to Englewood FL to visit with one of her friends so she was not with us on Thursday).

Of course it was a lovely time  (and all the more so for Penne who "adores" Betty).

Betty's near-blindness is because of macular degeneration.  She voiced a concern:  "What"  she asked, "do I look like when you talk to me?"

Her concern was this:  she wanted to know whether or not she "looked" in the direction of the speaker (John or me) when we chatted. (What an unexpected and interesting question from an almost blind friend).

We assured her that she indeed looked towards the direction of the speaker, and that no-one would ever notice her disability.  We assured her that she looked utterly "normal".  She was relieved.

Then I got to be silly.  I added, "Don't worry Betty, you look like (Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives)  John Boehner!"

Her wit chimed in:  "Ah", she said, "the orange man!". Funnier than heck eh!

American friends will "get" this wit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since Betty is both short in stature and deprived of sight, it is hard for her to adjust her aircon/heating thermostat.


So at her age of  91, Betty decided to investigate the possibility of getting a "voice activated"  thermostat. 

At my  age of  70,  this would never have occurred to me.  

Tech-savvy Betty was right, She now has her voice activated thermostat.

(I told you that she is as smart as whip.)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more