Joanie on her way to Cripple Creek ... for the first time in 40 years!Joanie is a native of Jamaica who studied in England and who immigrated to the U.S. in her 20s. She still lives alone, walks to the super market with her rolling shopping bag at least twice a week and spends afternoons in the apartment office talking with her friends, who have become something more like family. Needless to say, she's a fascinating woman with great stories to tell.
Anyway, last Friday I happened to stop by the office at the same time Joan was there. I mentioned to my friend Eve how Andy and I went into the mountains for some leaf viewing and hiking to celebrate our anniversary.
Joan casually mentioned that it had been 40-plus years since she took Route 24 west towards the Peak, and how this time of year was always so lovely. It was a genuine surprise to her when I volunteered to drive her up to Cripple Creek on Monday.
Eve was able to join us.
It required four hours and a half tank of gas to take a magnificent woman back half her lifetime ago. While Joanie is healthy as a horse, who knows if the three of us would be in a position to repeat the road trip next October? It touched my heart to get a big hug from this tiny woman at the end of the day and thanks for giving her a "wonderful gift."
The thing is, it was just as much a gift for Eve and me. We got to hear a plethora of stories about life on the island, her marriage and how much things have changed. Our seniors are phenomenal people with rich and interesting stories to tell: I felt so lucky to be able to spend the time with her and make her smile.
If there's a senior citizen in your family, neighborhood or even apartment complex to whom you can reach out for four hours on a sunny afternoon, do it. Not only might it put a long-missing smile on their face, it will enrich your life, too.
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