Bless Their Hearts

I like to pay attention to the little things in life that give people pleasure. It makes me feel good when I'm a part of it. Sometimes you just have to pacify someone and sometimes you have to act. In the end, it feels good.

The little old lady has gotten it in her head to be a tutor. The day she went to the doctor, and the doctor told her she needed to get around more, she read an article in the paper that got her all excited.

The local college is looking for tutors. They are offering a 10 day class for tutors. The old lady wants to sign up for it. When she told the woman who lives with her about it, the woman pretty much told her she was too old. That made the old lady more determined to do it.

The old lady told me it was an omen that she saw it in the paper. I told her to go ahead and call. I was thinking for sure they would tell her she was too old or something.

Lets face it. The little old lady is 83, she never gets dressed, other people feed her, she can't even walk down the hall to use the bathroom, and she doesn't drive. But I didn't want to get her upset so I thought I'd just pacify her.

Well she called the guy. He called her back today. I answered the phone. I've known this guy, Bob, for 14 years. His daughter and my oldest went to school together and were friends. His wife and I were their Girl Scout leaders for many years. He also worked with daughter 2 when she went to college.

I listened to some of the conversation, the old lady was telling him how old she was and her limitations. I thought for sure he'd let her down easy. I left while she was still on the phone with him.

I had a Dermatologists appointment today, but I cancelled it to take the guy I clean and shop for in Rhinelander to the doctor. He was mugged last week and has a broken rib. He was having trouble breathing. The damn VA PA told him to go home and if it still hurts tomorrow to go get Xrays. But that's another story.

On my way home I saw Bob stopped on the side of the road looking at a boat for sale. I stopped to talk to him. I asked him about his conversation with the old lady. I thought for sure he'd let her down easy.

Nope, he encouraged her to go for it! Then he told me about his mother. The woman was 85 years old, blind, used a walker, and carried oxygen, but she went back to school to get her GED!

He told me all about how his 85 year old mother always wanted a high school diploma. But she didn't think she could since she was so old and needed caregivers. She was still sharp and went through the classes, with the help of books on tape and got her GED. They had a big graduation ceremony.

I'm sure this will encourage the old lady to go ahead with this tutoring. If I thought for a second that she could actually do it, I'd do everything I could to help her.

I just don't see it happening. But I could be wrong. I guess we will see.