The 92 year old, petite, poised and proud lady, who dressed each morning by 8am with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied (even though she is legally blind) moved to a nursing home today.
Her husband of 70 years recently passed away making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she manoeuvred her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
'I love it,' she stated with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old having just been presented with a new puppy.
'Mrs Jones, you haven't seen the room yet,' I said.
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' she replied. 'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind, that counts.'
'I've already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up because it seems to me that I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with he parts of my body that no longer work, or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the parts that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on that day.'
What a wonderful story Jill! We do have a choice and living in the present and accepting it for the best of it rather than the worst would certainly make us and those around us much happier I'm sure. Each day truly is a gift.
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