My Aunt Betty came to visit for 10 days. It was a very different visit than the many that we have shared in the past. At 88 years old she is mentally sharp and still has so much to offer the world.
We argued politics and discussed recent books.
We shopped, visited family and enjoyed eating out as often as possible.
After her arrival in South Windsor, meeting Jack, and unpacking,she wanted to see where Chemo happened. Accompanying us into the city hospital of Hartford, she watched as the Chemo day unfolded. She commented later about how silently it all works... the silent proficiency of the nurses, and the quiet of the Oncology area.
A big highlight to Chemo Day was Tom's visit for dinner. Now that he is in New England, it's been such a treat to see him. Aunt Betty is honored that he made the effort to come by to see her!
"What a sweet heart, and so good looking."
"He is such a great guy!"
The next day she excitedly explored West Hartford, visiting our cousin's home and to "the center" for lunch. This was the day that she had her TRISH makeover.
Later in the week it was down to Hamden to Russ and Lisa's for dinner and to see their new, old house. Russ made a wonderful dinner and was so proud to show off his handy work in remodeling the kitchen. Lisa gave a tour of the house.
"They are so cute together."
"He has grown up to be such a great young man."
"How wonderful their young lives are."
Next we were off to Massachusetts, to Beverly and Salem, taking a tour of The Landmark School and visiting with Beth and Scott, and sharing the excitement of a baseball game on a sunny afternoon. A big treat was watching Scott pitching and striking out, and a chance to see their new, old home and having dinner at the Depot.
"That's the baby girl who cried all night when she came to visit me, now she's a teacher and a young wife."
"Look, their home is so familiar."
"It's the same layout that my old home was.Don't you just love that?"
Then came the long weekend, with a trip down to Waterford to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend. This gave us a restful sunny break from the car. Tom came for an overnight and it even brought more excitement to her visit. But suddenly Tuesday came and soon we were heading back to Syracuse. Later that day she was back in the familiar surroundings of her apartment. There is comfort in that.
She had her make-over done at Nordstrom's, shared Chemo experiences and visited the homes of our now grown children, wheezed loving our cat and marveled at all that wasn't her apartment back home. Now it felt good to be back and be energized to go on.
Her physical abilities have diminished and she also is about 5-6 inches shorter than she was at my age. Her balance is tenuous and her vision is very poor in low light. But she kept up with us and was always ready to go! If we were all so fortunate to live such a -good- long life.
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