She's a Lovely Woman
There were a few seasonal greeting cards waiting for us in our mailbox yesterday morning. One envelope was addressed in gold ink, and the return address didn't ring a bell at all, for we know no one residing on Old Montreal Road. The mystery was solved later when I slit the envelope open and discovered a Christmas card with greetings, from someone whose name we couldn't recognize. Then the note explained that this was a note of appreciation from a man whose mother-in-law had given him boxes and bags of softback detective, crime and spy novels which my husband had read and decided to give away. This giveaway became a yearly ritual. We were happy as we were able to dispose of books my husband had read, since we had more than sufficient books lining the shelves of our library, downstairs study and studio, all of which we saw fit to keep, but not those of that genre.Each year in April, a lovely woman who is the area captain for the Canadian Cancer Society contacts me to ask whether I would agree to once again to conduct a volunteer canvass door-to-door for donations from our neighbours on the street. And each year, as I've done for decades I agree that I will, and proceed to go door to door. Our neighbours obligingly donate what they see fit and the sum total of my efforts and their generosity place this street among the most generous in this yearly campaign. When, at the conclusion of the canvass, Kay Browne comes to pick up my kit, we usually ask if she would be willing once again to take these books off our hands. She had once explained to us that her son-in-law is a detective/crime/spy novel fanatic like my husband. A dilemma we faced was solved by her happily carting away dozens upon dozens of these novels to give to her son-in-law, although, she confided in us, her daughter threatened that their house was becoming rather crowded with all these novels.
So, if we have so many books we'd like to be rid of what's the problem anyway? I had tried, unsuccessfully, to talk my husband into donating them to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. After all, that's exactly where so many of these novels came from to begin with. Trouble was, my husband explained to me, he would simply forget he'd once read them and purchase them all over again. Mark the inside front cover with his initials, I suggested, and that would clue him in, but to no avail. So, in this manner Kay came to our rescue, obligingly taking away these books, gifting them to her son-in-law who in turn would pass on the once-read books to others with similar tastes in literature. And everyone is happy.
The very day that we received this unexpected acknowledgement from Kay's son-in-law, we headed out to the Sally Ann Thrift Store ourselves, as we often do on Tuesdays when we can take advantage of the 20% off bargain for seniors. And who did we see when we parked the car? None other than Kay herself, just leaving the store, occasioning us the opportunity to tell her we had received this card and I meant to write back to her son-in-law with our telephone number so he could, if he wished, telephone us at his convenience and we would arrange to pull together a sizeable load of detective novels for him to pick up at his leisure.
Kay is a very attractive, very nicely preserved as the saying goes, woman. She is always impeccably dressed. Her demeanor is one of kindness and sweetness of character, truly a lovely person. She has a gently waved cap of pure white hair, she is on the slender side of overweight and carries herself proudly. Her husband died about ten years ago, of cancer. She has involved herself energetically with fundraising efforts for the Cancer Society ever since. She told us yesterday that she had just turned 80 years of age. Amazing, truly it is. She had undergone operations last August for cataracts and other than that her health appears to be holding, she laughed. No one in her family background, she said, had ever had cataracts, but then, she added, they probably died in their early 70s from heart problems or something similar, so the cataracts never had the chance to develop.
Yes, we're living longer, for the most part. Medical science, advanced treatments and a greater understanding of the necessity of living a healthy lifestyle has enabled many of the older generation to live more productive and happy, not to mention healthy lives. Kay is just one example, and she's a shining example, to be sure.
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, December 21, 2005
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