Friday, October 15, 2010

Living a Long Time


Bill and Ruth Frazel
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel
Both my husband and I have ancestors that lived into their nineties. Today, my father-in-law is 97 years old. He is a recent widower and lives in a nursing home.

His deafness keeps him in isolation but he really doesn't mind. He's been going deaf since I met him and it was a hint to me that my then young husband would probably lose his hearing. He has.

My own father was hard of hearing in one ear from the shelling during WWII. Conversation in the car was minimal because he could hear you and drive. My mother found it annoying.

This photo was taken at the retirement home where my in-laws lived and is a scan of a printed photo they gave us. When they moved in my mother-in-law was still coloring her hair her natural brunette so this photo is probably the only recent photo of them with no one else in the photo.

I saw a rainbow in the sky this morning. I think it is a message (as all rainbows are God's promise to us) that he will not be here long. My mother-in-law misses him even though she is not here to tell us. They were married 72 years. That's a long time, don't you think?

Living long is harder than it looks.

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