Day 408
My boys are the best of friends! Of course, their personalities (and age) surface during playtime.
Gus is a bit more aloof when all three are together. Ranger is in charge and lets them know when his 10-year-old body has had enough. Sam...Sam is simply CRAZY to play with either one of them!
My own Nanny lived to be 93 years young. My grandfather passed away in the 1940's, so she was a widow for over 30 years. We were blessed to live next door to this warm, wonderful, cookie-baking matriarch, and she helped make us the people we are today.
As she crept up the age ladder, her friends began to depart. A natural phenomenon, it didn't seem to phase her from my perspective. She would still ask me to drive her over to the nursing home to "see the old people at the finishing school!" I was always ready to be her companion!
"Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...One is Silver and the Other Gold." That was her motto!
One friend, Marion Dunham, became a friend of mine as well. Born in 1885, my Nanny didn't drive since she attempted that "circus act" once and ran the Model T into a nearby haystack! I was lucky enough to be her chauffeur, so trips to the Dunham home included her young driver.
Marion, of the famed Dunham Oaks, was quite the character. When she sold her land on the Rum River, she would formally interview hopeful buyers. If she liked you, she just might sell you a lot...if not, she simply told the person with the checkbook she didn't need their money! As my mother's elementary principal at Washington Elementary, Marion sold mostly to educators. Being the stern, commanding figure that she was, nobody ever questioned her final decisions.
Ms. Dunham would drive over to pick my Nanny up for a shopping spree from time to time. I remember her having a huge sedan where she would peer out under the top of the steering wheel rim. Sometimes, it looked like there might be no driver at all! Nanny would get in with a wave of her hand, (my hands were busy praying that she would be delivered home in one piece) and off they would go!
As the years passed, Nanny's friends did too. To my amazement, younger friends took their place. These companions were far more appreciated by the family since they could see above the steering wheel and actually assisted Nanny with anything a woman of her age might need. Every last one shared with the family that they loved being in her company. She was a character!
We would hold birthday parties for her at our home and she would walk across the driveway at the appointed hour mumbling something about, "Who would come to see an old lady like me? Maybe they just want to make sure I am still kicking!" Her sense of humor never left her. There would always be over 100 guests at the birthday open house in honor of this woman who had friends of every age.
Lilly and I were at Walker today and visited with people well into their 80's and 90's. These individuals have become our beloved friends and we treasure each and every one. Younger friends are wonderful as well! With Asher around, I might just have to join the Cub Scouts...watch out, young people...I am always looking for new, adventurous friends!
It would seem that my Nanny had the right idea about making new friends. One is silver and the other gold! Treasured friends can be of any age...just ask my pups!
