Something different for my blog post today!
Lately, events of the last two pandemic years have been shuffling around my little gray cells. I do believe my brain is wired strangely because what’s emerged is not the usual pandemic ponderings.
The first thought is of gratitude that no one I know died of Covid. I know that’s not true for many.
Second, I now have two grandchildren, whose presence blesses me with smiles and laughter every day. Eli is almost two and a happy kid with interests in all sorts of things: birds, cars and trucks, drawing, music. I love playing with him – something I recall having little time to do with his mother and uncle when they were growing up. Too busy attending to their needs – so that’s what grandparents are for! Alexandra is too young, not yet two months, but her little round baby face makes me want to protect her from all the bumps in life. I do wonder what will come of them, especially since I am an older grandmother and won’t be around for most of their lifetime.
I feel like singing Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely?
Third, I have a husband who puts up with my craziness after more than 50 years of marriage. My latest finagling has to do with getting another cat and also an e (electric)-bike.* I’ll let you know how that works out.
Fourth, although I cried every day for a month after moving from our home of 35 years, I am coming to realize that living on one floor and having good neighbors is a real compensation, not to mention a new house that doesn’t require us to drain our savings on a regular basis.
Fifth, I have an idiot cat who sleeps with me at night so I can fall asleep petting him. That makes up for the fact that I vacuum up enough hair to make another cat each week.
Sixth, we are lucky to have longtime friends who seem to be there when we need anything – watching the house, driving us to the airport – and willingly sample any of my more dubious off-the-cuff cooking/baking creations.
Sixth, I wonder why it is so hard to take off the weight that was so easy to put on. Gets harder every year, despite long walks with creaky joints.
Seven, how wonderful it is to get into a pool and just swim. Laps and laps that clear the mind and help focus on life’s tangles. And how to untangle them.
Eight, although my body is now made up of a lot of artificial parts, it’s still functioning well. Aging isn’t for the weak of heart, but it ca
n still be enjoyable.
I have two of each of these and a plate in my neck, but being bionic, I’m still going.
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All in all, I do believe I am pretty lucky person, content with my life.
What have you been pondering lately? Are you content? Would love some add-ons to my list!
* FYI, a bill that would offer Americans a refundable tax credit on the purchase of a new electric bicycle was just introduced in the Senate by Ed Markey (D-MA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), as a way to cut down on car emissions. The bill is called the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment, or E-BIKE Act. E-bikes are pretty expensive, ranging from $1000 t0 $5000 or more. Schatz and Markey’s legislation would offer Americans a refundable tax credit worth 30 percent of a new e-bike’s purchase price, capped at $1,500.
I think HUBS just might go for this. Look for some pictures of mine pretty soon!
You have so many wonderful things to be grateful for, Noelle. The photos of your grandchildren brought me a smile, and you know I love Garfield. I can relate to the cat who sleeps with you at night as Raven does the same and I fall asleep with my cheek resting against her side.
We will eventually buy a ranch house for our final property when we move after I retire, and I know it’s going to be horrible leaving the home we’ve had for 30 years.
I would love to own an electric bike (my brother and his wife bought them) and ride to work on sunny days. It would be great if there were less cars on the road and more bikes for the commute.
I’m about five years from retirement, but lately hubby and I have been pondering our futures once I retire. Lots of decisions to make!
You are planning ahead, MC, and that’s the clue to a good retirement. I wish we had moved sooner than we did, though. It takes so much physical and psychological energy to do it.
My retirement plan was writing, take care of one knee that needed a replacement, and travel. Before Covid, that was working well. Now, of course we have grandchildren, and I prefer to spend time with them than tourist travel. So little time!
I think one of the advantages of being older during this pandemic is that we were closer to our parents view of the war, and therefore we know that things will endure, although things may also change, and hopefully for the better.
So for us, maybe the pandemic is more of ‘just one more thing to get through’ rather than the end of the world that many younger folk seemed to imagine.
I’m glad none of your friends died from it… I had one, who had a bad lung condition that put her in hospital just before the first Christmas. Not a good place top be, despite the best work from everyone involved. I have, however, been surrounded by delayed cancer diagnoses, and you know about two of those. Three others are in process, one had been in remission, and seems to have responded to his latest bout of chemo.
And yes, I know the problem of the house move. I look at mine and think how lucky I am to have moved when I did, but still feel a little squeezed for space!
I haven’t got an electric bike. But I have got solar panels and a battery, which works great in this time of skyrocketing electricity and gas prices! Inflation is rampant in our troubled isle.
Keep well, and enjoy your blessings 🙂
I agree completely, Jemima. I think being older we are much less likely to be Chicken Littles, to think about things rationally, and to plan ahead. Our biggest problem are losing friends and friends with health care problems – cancer, Parkinson;s, dementia. Each day is a blessing, though – and you and the boys are one of my blessings!
Hi Noelle – these are wonderful things to be grateful for, especially your precious grandchildren. How wonderful for you. We are not at that stage yet, but I have two grand nephews and one grand niece and just seeing their little faces brings me joy. I wonder where we will go when we retire – I am thinking to someplace warmer and so your comment about adjusting to the move (even after those tears) is heartening. Best wishes to you!
I bike regularly for exercise. Great idea!
Hope the e-bike works out. I have two buddies that just got one, and they ride together. No more climbing stairs is a massive benefit to your new home.
Agreed, although I still have to climb stairs in my kid’s houses! With the e-bike discount, I think a reasonably priced bike (under 2k) might suit and might persuade my husband to join me. Oh the places I can go if I’m not destroying my knees on hills!
Wonderful post, Noelle! GRAND–they sure are that… Ours are 35, 30, 24 and 21 and now we have 3 GREAT GRANDS–8, 7 and 3. Grateful every day for our many blessings including our amazing grand, greats and their families. Retirement–grateful for that too! Facetime, messaging and all the digital apps are super at keeping families in touch and enabling us to watch our little ones grow even when they live far away. So very many things to be grateul for! Thanks for sharing yours.
Agreed x 10, Bette. We have sort of dropped off of the traveling/tours to spend time with family. So much better to make memories with them!
Wonderful! <3 xo
A wonderful list of things to be grateful for, Noelle. My landlord and his wife have e-bikes. Clearly the rent is too high!
I’ve figured I can get a step through bike for roads and good trails with 28 mph and just a few gear shifts for under 2K, and would get !/3 back on our taxes with the new Congressional Act. Would save my replaced knees.
What a beautiful post, Noelle. There is so so much to be grateful for, even in these tough times. I share many of your points and feel blessed. Did you know that children who have positive relationships with their grandparents often do better in life? We are important! Enjoy the electric bike! I’d love one of those if our roads out here weren’t so twisty and dangerous with the logging trucks. Have fun with it!
Diana, you can get trail e-bikes with big fat tires for just that sort of riding! And a horn for those truck!
That’s good to know! They look like great fun. Let us know how it goes as you start exploring.
Gotta persuade HUBS to let me get the bike first!
Ha ha. I have faith in your power of persuasion. 🙂
For many of us, the last couple of years has reminded us to enjoy what we have, whilst we have it. Whether is life, love, relationships. It sounds like you’re adapting and being positive and upbeat which is a good place to be. 🙂
Best Wishes
Kevin
Thanks so much, Kevin, and thanks for checking out all my posts. Here’s to a gastronomically great New Year!
I like your mulling. The more we’re grateful, the better our life is. Yes! And no matter how long we’re “there” for our grandkids, I think they’ll always have warm happy thoughts about us as they reach adulthood and beyond. I know I do of my grandmothers, and one died when I was 6 (but I still remember how sweet and loving she was, and how much she loved me) and the other died when I was in college.
I often think of my maternal grandmother. She was everything a grandmother should be. We called her Memmere, and now my grandchildren (well, one so far) call me that, although it’s shortened to Meme (Maymay)..
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A lovely post Noelle, It feels good to read your words, instead of forever complaining about things around me, this made me think about all the blessings I have to be grateful for❤️
Thank you so much. I have gotten more grateful as I’ve gotten older. Maybe it’s in the aging genes?
I love your optimism and your gratefulness. Being grateful makes life so much better. Like you, I’m very grateful that no one close to me has passed away from CV-19 and for my husband and family. And congratulations on your new grandbabies. Here’s wishing you much happiness from here on. <3
We are both lucky. Thanks so much for your comments!
You’re very welcome. I meant to add to my comment that, at the same time, my heart goes out to those who aren’t so fortunate. I pray that God give them comfort and consolation.
What a lovely post, your bungalow looks perfect. Time is too short for a big house with too much cleaning and hoarding hehe, although George would like space for a grand piano 🎹. I think he’d prefer a grand piano to a settee and just sit on his stool!
I called my Grandmother, Mema and my Grandfather Pepa. My other grandparents are both still going strong Nana and Grandad. Nana calls me at least once a week on facetime. You should write your memory book for them about when you were a child, a teenager, etc. I wish I’d got that information from my Grandparents, I heard a bit at the funeral and thought I didn’t know that’s how they met or what their first dates were. I don’t know what Dad was like as a baby for them. Or about their health issues.
On the bike Simon Cowell had a bad fall on an electric bike, he may have been going too fast so if you do buy one make sure you get the shop to agree to give you a short lesson on it. My Great Aunty Joan has one and she loves it, it has given her her freedom back and she’s goes all the way into town along a canal with her husband with a basket on it so she can put shopping in it.
Thanks for the sound advice, Charlotte, and I will make sure I have some advice and practice before I venture out. With a helmet. I have been writing short stories about when I was growing up for my kids – should probably expand it to include some stories of my grandparents and parents, too. So much to write! PS Mu grandson’s name for me is Meme (may-may) a short form of Memmere!
It sounds like the good life! My daughter just bought an electric bike as she’s pregnant with 2nd baby and is finding it hard to pull the baby cart for baby 1 plus her heavier body! I feel every day, no, every minute is a gift! Enjoy your life as a happy granny!
You, too. Grandkids are so much fun!