Yesterday we whizzed off down the M5 in the rain - won't rush to do that again but we're on holiday now so blogging may be even more erratic than usual.
Not that there is much going on in the world apart from wars, division, conflict and the looming reality of totalitarian politics.
Let's have an Edith Wharton quote instead.
In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy sorrow, one CAN remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small
Edith Wharton’s 1934 autobiography 'A Backward Glance'
In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy sorrow, one CAN remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small
Edith Wharton’s 1934 autobiography 'A Backward Glance'
9 comments:
Have a good holiday. Avoid all news and enjoy blissful ignorance of the shenanigans of the assorted clowns.
Let me cheer you up.
https://archive.ph/kU5Vt
Mike - thanks, avoiding the news is a good idea, scan the headlines and move on to something less crazy.
dearieme - blimey, he's shameless. Sounds like some kind of time share ownership but I bet his sister and family friends aren't interested in sharing his current residence, not even as visitors.
How long did she last then?
James - 75, not exceptional but not bad for the time.
That could be the pitch-perfect description of my grandfather; a gifted teacher and prolific diarist with an insatiable curiosity and astonishing attention to detail - a typical scenario was the family argument over who was going to fetch him down from the cliff he had climbed (in his late eighties) to identify exactly which variety of sea thrift was flowering at the top.
He finally succumbed to pneumonia in his sleep at the age of 96 - at which point we discovered that, being a Christian Scientist, he was not actually registered with the NHS, having last seen a doctor at the end of his service in the Great War.
Macheath - your grandfather sounds like an ideal biography subject. Curiosity is one of those characteristics which we understand because we know it varies considerably, but we tend not to classify a lack of curiosity as problematic. Maybe this is because it isn't a social problem at all, we need the stability of the incurious.
What a fine way for your grandfather to go though, finally succumbing to pneumonia in his sleep at the age of 96. That must have stirred up some family thoughts about health, lifestyles and medical intervention.
Reminds me of a friend's grandfather who was still working at 107. Mind you this is a Swiss man we're talking about. He was a church sexton and used to go home every lunch time for a midday nap for a couple of hours. One day he didn't wake up, so missed his afternoon shift.
Tammly - what an ideal way to go!
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