Sam (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
l33tminion) wrote2005-06-16 11:56 pm
l33tminion) wrote2005-06-16 11:56 pm
Entry tags:
Adopted Grandparents
When I was little and still living in Boston, Nana and Bill, an older couple, looked after me a few times a week. I mentioned Nana in my journal a while ago, as I visited her grave last summer (she died two years ago). Since I hadn't talked to Bill for two years, I decided to call him up last weekend, and I visited him today.
(When I was planning to call, I wondered aloud whether Bill might be dead, and this comment was promptly submitted to Slander by Xave. Seriously, the guy's 93, his wife died about two years ago, and he gave up smoking less than a decade ago after loosing part of a lung to disease, so I'm surprised (pleasantly!) that he's stuck around for so long. My family knows him, but his family doesn't really know us, so when he dies it's somewhat unlikely anyone will tell me. All my grandparents died some time ago, and my sister's "adopted grandfather" died just recently, so I suppose that's been on my mind.)
Bill seems to be in good health. He had a pacemaker installed last week (which he says helps a lot), and he still makes the walk back from Coolidge Corner (he takes the elder bus there, which is the uphill direction). He went to his high school's reunion yesterday and was the oldest one there (class of '29). Apparently, he's not playing poker anymore, as his usual play group has diminished (the apartment he's in is mostly old people, although less so than it was when I was young, so turnover is pretty high).
I talked about school, work, and family. He talked about various jobs he's had (and his job offer to work at the naval yard at Pearl Harbor before WWII, which (probably fortunately) arrived just a few weeks too late for him to take it) and his family (three children (I think), and a whole bunch of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren (I find that mind-boggling; I can't imagine living through four generations)).
So, yeah, it was a good day.
(When I was planning to call, I wondered aloud whether Bill might be dead, and this comment was promptly submitted to Slander by Xave. Seriously, the guy's 93, his wife died about two years ago, and he gave up smoking less than a decade ago after loosing part of a lung to disease, so I'm surprised (pleasantly!) that he's stuck around for so long. My family knows him, but his family doesn't really know us, so when he dies it's somewhat unlikely anyone will tell me. All my grandparents died some time ago, and my sister's "adopted grandfather" died just recently, so I suppose that's been on my mind.)
Bill seems to be in good health. He had a pacemaker installed last week (which he says helps a lot), and he still makes the walk back from Coolidge Corner (he takes the elder bus there, which is the uphill direction). He went to his high school's reunion yesterday and was the oldest one there (class of '29). Apparently, he's not playing poker anymore, as his usual play group has diminished (the apartment he's in is mostly old people, although less so than it was when I was young, so turnover is pretty high).
I talked about school, work, and family. He talked about various jobs he's had (and his job offer to work at the naval yard at Pearl Harbor before WWII, which (probably fortunately) arrived just a few weeks too late for him to take it) and his family (three children (I think), and a whole bunch of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren (I find that mind-boggling; I can't imagine living through four generations)).
So, yeah, it was a good day.
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"submitted to Slander by Xave"? What's that mean?
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