365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation As I Raise My Son and Grow My Good News Website – Blog#11
Old Lady - please note this lady is not my neighbour. Though she probably is someone's neighbour somewhere. If she's still alive. I wonder if she's alive?
Today I woke with the urge to be kind. To give. I felt inspired to surprise someone with something good, just for them. And I knew the person at the top of my list: my elderly next door neighbour. Having been here just over a week we’ve only shared a few conversations but it quickly struck me that a) she’s determined to make the most of life while she’s still around and b) she could do with a little more company (I’m not even going to start with my opinions about the ways we could be taking care of our elders). She told me that every evening she gets dressed up, sits down and has a glass of red wine. She says it raises her spirits, and that she may not have too many people in her life to share a glass of red with, but that shouldn’t stop her enjoying herself. I was impressed. She seemed … spunky. And resourceful. I hope I’ll be as resilient when I’m her age.
A few days ago she leaned over the fence and announced it was her birthday.
“And my family can’t make it so I’ve taken myself out to the restaurant down the road for lunch and a wine and it was lovely!” Although she looked genuinely excited about her birthday jaunt, her day far from met my birthday ideals. I resolved to do something nice for her, asap.
So today I talked to my other neighbor and we gathered together a posse of birthday well wishers. I baked her a banana cake (with absolutely gorgeous dark chocolate icing, I have got to say), and decorated it with flowers. After some deliberation I decided to warn her to get ‘her glad rags on’ for five o’clock because I didn’t know how safe it was to surprise her (she could have had a heart condition!) Five of us appeared on her doorstep with food and a candle. We sang her happy birthday and after some encouragement, she shut her eyes and made her birthday wishes.
I have no idea whether she enjoyed her birthday surprise. At the very least she’ll dine out on cake for a few days. It was simply nice to come together with a group of people, three of which were elderly women (which I enjoyed), to celebrate that inspiring lady’s birthday.
Today’s rating: 9/10
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation (as I raise my gorgeous son and grow my good news website to a subscription base of 100,000 people). The Low Down on this Blog.
Check out yesterday’s blog.
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Tags: dreams, Emotional sustainability, good news, Happiness, motivational, optimism, personal sustainability, positive news
Charlotte, what a beautiful idea for an amazingly strong, powerful and determined neighbour! What an inspiration to us all she is. I do hope I get to meet her one day when I am visiting you.
Thanks also for inspiring me with your actions, like many of us european immigrants, we have lost vital regular connections with our families in particular our grand parents. Others are equally missing out if their grandparents have already passed on. Why dont we all adopt a granny? The elderly have much to teach us, share with us and are often forgotten by their own families or the rest of society.
When I lived on the Kapiti Coast, I had a neighbour down the road, who I would see on my walk to the beach and he would joyfully greet me. He often shared stories of his boyhood to me and I really missed him when sadly his time came and he passed on. He had a fantastic sense of humour and he still had a twinkle in his eye 😉 I am sure, in his time, we was quite a catch!
Another great blog Charlotte, keep them coming…
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Thanks for your encouragement Kat
I really, really appreciate it xxxx
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