Winter loving.
Apr. 24th, 2014 07:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tedwords"So, your grandmother is kind of dating a younger man," Corb's mother whispered to him in the church pew this past Sunday morning.
I swar, if Corb had been drinking the communal wine, he would have done a spit take that would have landed on the face of the church organist. As it was, he let out a snort that attracted the attention of at least three rows. "Um, WHAT?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" she said, and from the way her face was beaming you could tell she was enjoying the attention. "Yeah, they've been inseparable for the past three weeks. Do everything together."
"What do you mean, younger man?" Corb asked.
"He's 66."
Hmmm. That's pretty impressive for a 92 year old lady in a nursing home who has a slight case of dementia and has trouble standing up on her own two feet most of the time. Still, it beats the 18 year age gap between Corb and myself. That's not easy to do!
"Now, of course, he's in a wheelchair and doesn't get around much," she continued, after she let the gap sink in. "Still, they eat all their meals together. Hold hands. They spend hours talking together." Pause. Another twinkle in her eye. "Oh, and he asked her to marry him yesterday."
"WHAT?" Corb's bellow echoes through the church walls. I touched his shoulder to remind him we were inside a church. He shook his head and whispered, "What?"
"Yeah, she called me last night to tell me the news," she replied. "She was really concerned, because she doesn't want to say yes. She spent an hour telling me that she's not sure she's ready to give herself to another man, and that she hasn't been with a man since my father died when I was twelve, and she's not sure what to do or how to do it."
Ashes, who was sitting next to me, suddenly chose this time to speak up. "Wow. I guess your grandma's a GILF."
"Ashes!" Hmmm. My whisper wasn't as soft as I had expected.
Corb looked more dazed than he had when I hit him in the head with the running hose. "So...grandma's going to..."
His mother waved her hand dismissively. "No, not at all. I mean, how could she? He's in a wheelchair and she can barely get into bed without falling."
I nodded. "A wheelchair might be even more difficult to straddle."
"The nurse assured me we have nothing to worry about on that front."
Corb still looked confused. "Why would grandma be talking about things like that with you? She's so prim and proper."
"The nurse says it's not uncommon," his mom replied. "As people get older, they tend to lose their inhibitions."
Well, Corb is shocked, but personally, I think the whole thing is rather sweet. Why shouldn't his grandmother have someone to spoon with late in her life? She lost her husband back when she was in her thirties. He had been an aviator, and had gone down with a plane, on a flight that he had not even been expecting to fly. At the last minute, his best friend asked him to fill in for him. Since then she hasn't had anyone else in her life romantically, and if you ask me, sixty years is a long time to wait for that.
Of course, according to Corb's mom, some people in the family are aghast at this new development. That crazy aunt Carol of Corb's is completely up in arms, and wants her to be moved to another nursing home, to keep the two of them apart.
I hope that doesn't happen. I don't think it will either. And that makes me happy. I am sure it will be short-lived and I know they will never marry (she would lose her husband's military pension, if she did), but in my mind, having someone to share your life with--to greet at the breakfast table, even if there are twenty other people at that table, too--makes life worth getting up for in the morning. And we all need a reason for that, right?
I swar, if Corb had been drinking the communal wine, he would have done a spit take that would have landed on the face of the church organist. As it was, he let out a snort that attracted the attention of at least three rows. "Um, WHAT?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" she said, and from the way her face was beaming you could tell she was enjoying the attention. "Yeah, they've been inseparable for the past three weeks. Do everything together."
"What do you mean, younger man?" Corb asked.
"He's 66."
Hmmm. That's pretty impressive for a 92 year old lady in a nursing home who has a slight case of dementia and has trouble standing up on her own two feet most of the time. Still, it beats the 18 year age gap between Corb and myself. That's not easy to do!
"Now, of course, he's in a wheelchair and doesn't get around much," she continued, after she let the gap sink in. "Still, they eat all their meals together. Hold hands. They spend hours talking together." Pause. Another twinkle in her eye. "Oh, and he asked her to marry him yesterday."
"WHAT?" Corb's bellow echoes through the church walls. I touched his shoulder to remind him we were inside a church. He shook his head and whispered, "What?"
"Yeah, she called me last night to tell me the news," she replied. "She was really concerned, because she doesn't want to say yes. She spent an hour telling me that she's not sure she's ready to give herself to another man, and that she hasn't been with a man since my father died when I was twelve, and she's not sure what to do or how to do it."
Ashes, who was sitting next to me, suddenly chose this time to speak up. "Wow. I guess your grandma's a GILF."
"Ashes!" Hmmm. My whisper wasn't as soft as I had expected.
Corb looked more dazed than he had when I hit him in the head with the running hose. "So...grandma's going to..."
His mother waved her hand dismissively. "No, not at all. I mean, how could she? He's in a wheelchair and she can barely get into bed without falling."
I nodded. "A wheelchair might be even more difficult to straddle."
"The nurse assured me we have nothing to worry about on that front."
Corb still looked confused. "Why would grandma be talking about things like that with you? She's so prim and proper."
"The nurse says it's not uncommon," his mom replied. "As people get older, they tend to lose their inhibitions."
Well, Corb is shocked, but personally, I think the whole thing is rather sweet. Why shouldn't his grandmother have someone to spoon with late in her life? She lost her husband back when she was in her thirties. He had been an aviator, and had gone down with a plane, on a flight that he had not even been expecting to fly. At the last minute, his best friend asked him to fill in for him. Since then she hasn't had anyone else in her life romantically, and if you ask me, sixty years is a long time to wait for that.
Of course, according to Corb's mom, some people in the family are aghast at this new development. That crazy aunt Carol of Corb's is completely up in arms, and wants her to be moved to another nursing home, to keep the two of them apart.
I hope that doesn't happen. I don't think it will either. And that makes me happy. I am sure it will be short-lived and I know they will never marry (she would lose her husband's military pension, if she did), but in my mind, having someone to share your life with--to greet at the breakfast table, even if there are twenty other people at that table, too--makes life worth getting up for in the morning. And we all need a reason for that, right?
