thirty days of thirty years: nine

Year nine, age eight and grade three: 1990-1991.

When I was a kid I spent a lot of time at my Aunt Lora and Uncle Ray's house. I don't know if I stayed there any more this year than any other, but I spent a significant part of my childhood there. Usually when I think of being a little kid, I think of Aunt Lora and her yellow house.

Aunt Lora was actually my great aunt; my mom's mom's sister. So she was really old, as far as I knew. She had silver hair, hearing aids, disfigured fingers from arthritis and she wore a neck brace from an old car accident injury. But Aunt Lora was so kind and funny, she seemed to understand and accept me and she always had Cheetos at her house. Uncle Ray had Alzheimer's for as long as I can remember and since he suffered from a stroke while he had the disease, he could never learn to talk correctly again so his words just came out in mumbles. 

In my life I genuinely try to take people as they are, without pretense. I don't know if I could desire to be this way if I had not been so close to people like Aunt Lora and Uncle Ray, who were so wonderful and yet so misunderstood by what the world could see. 

I have been told that one of my greatest gifts is service, and when I look back on my life I think of Aunt Lora as the first encourager of this gift in me. I don't know if it was because she seemed frail to me or if she just had a way of bringing out the best in me, but I loved helping and serving her as much as possible. One thing that I could do for her from a very young age was open her door... car door or grocery store door or house door, it didn't matter. She empowered me and made me feel like to help and serve was a needed and appreciated thing, no matter how small the act. 

I really love old people and I think it is because I knew so many wonderful ones when I was growing up. They loved and cared for me in a special way, and they didn't seem to try to make me "hurry up" and "speak up," like so many other adults. It's like they knew I would come around and they didn't try to force anything with me. I wonder if it is the patience and humility required of growing older that allows one to accept another with such grace and love.