A Valuable Thanksgiving Lesson

Hello friends,  I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!! Something happened this week and has made me realize how wonderful my life is and  just how much I appreciate everything and everyone in my life.  I wanted to share with you.

Stock Photo

My mother in law lives in an Assisted Living facility.  She has been there for a little over a year.  There are probably about thirty people who live there. These are people who may need a little assistance and can’t totally live on their own.  The people there are of various ages from 62 to over 100 years old.

The “Village” as we call it is beautiful. Each room is like a small apartment with a bathroom and sitting area and a small kitchen area.  So each resident can eat in their room or go to a dining room where everyone is served.

Several times a month I go and have lunch with my mother in law.  Each resident has their own table that they share with three other people.  Some of the tables are full and some are not. Addie, ( not her real name) sits at my mother in law’s table.  She is 95 years old.  She is really unbelievable. Other than not being able to walk and needing  a wheelchair  to get around she is in really good health.  Her memory is amazing and she keeps up with all current events.  She doesn’t wear her hair like a lot of the other ladies. Her hair is cut in a short bob and it is a beautiful solid white color.  She wears two plastic tortoise shell combs to hold her bangs back.  Although her voice is soft and whispery she loves to talk and talk. She always asks me about my job and if I have been busy.  She is very inquisitive.  Her manners are impeccable. My mother in law told me that some of the other residents don’t like to talk to Addie because they can’t understand what she is saying.  She said she stays by herself in her room a lot.

A few days ago I was eating lunch with my mother in law and Addie and we were talking about Thanksgiving.  I ask Addie if she was going somewhere to be with her family for Thanksgiving.  I know she has a son who lives in Georgia and another somewhere an hour or so away.  She said ” well I have been invited to Georgia but it is a long drive and someone will have to come and get me and take me there and then bring me back here. She looked sort of wistful for a moment and said” You know I am good right here.  I am in a nice safe place.  I have food and people around me.  I have everything I need right here so it is o.k. if I just stay here.  She seemed content with that.

Once when Addie and I were talking she told me about her life.  She lost her mother when she was fourteen years old.  That left Addie, her dad, her four year old brother and an older brother.  Addie’s dad had to work to make a living for his family.  He hired two young girls to take care of the four year old brother so that Addie and her older brother could return to school.  Her dad believed education was everything.  The two girls that were hired to take care of Addie’s little brother were very mean to him and physically abused him.  When Addie and her dad found out what was going on they stopped the girls from coming and Addie said she would quit school and stay home with her brother. Her dad was upset that Addie would not be attending school and he made Addie promise that as soon as her brother started school she would also return to school.

Addie at the age of fourteen cooked and cleaned and took care of all of her family.  Her life was not easy for a fourteen year old but she felt like she was doing what she needed to do.  When Addie’s brother started to school she returned to school as well.  Addie continued with her education and became a nurse.  She married a man who was a preacher and they had several children and lived in several different states throughout their married life.

When Addie told me that she was content and happy with where she was it really made me think. Here is a woman who has been through so much in her life. She is happy with what she has. I know that her family rarely visits, and she desperately misses her husband who recently passed away, BUT. She is content and happy and makes the most of every day. She wears the sweetest smile and is always positive. I just love her and she is definitely someone we can all learn a lesson from.  Why can’t we all be a little more like Addie, thankful for what we have in our lives.

I thought about Addie all week.   It made me realize I am happy and thankful for everything I have in my life.  Thank you Addie.

Happy Thanksgiving friends I hope you have had a wonderful day!!

Always remember:

Love your day your way!!