Roll with the Punches

Let us not open the border just because Canadians decide they do not want to be Canadians this winter. Am I the Only One? Seniors want to leave the country and travel to their summer retreats and no pandemic will get in their way. Oh, I get it, summer activities and outdoor fun have come to an end. Winter can be cold and cruel not to mention the white stuff. It gets dark by 4 o’clock and if the sun just happens to be out it is 20 degrees colder. But wait a minute. The Americans were locked out of Canada all summer. They had places to go and people to see too. Why are people acting so entitled? 

 As we get older and the world changes around us. We either become more accepting or we get more demanding. Then I remembered Lois. Lois was my 80-year-old neighbour who had a cute little cottage across the street. She offered no commentary on the neighbours, did not say much about current events or grumble about association fees or the price of groceries or the weather. In fact, Lois never complained. She loved her cottage as much as I loved mine. She would sit at her picnic table and have a beer in the afternoon after she mowed the lawn or swept out her cottage. I told my husband when I am eighty, I want to be Lois. I do not want to be sniveling about a few nickels or snarky with people in customer service or unkind in any way, shape, or form. Maybe it was Lois’s nature all along to be quiet and contented. Lois had her share of duck soup. She used to share laughs with Ben, her beloved husband, until she woke up one morning and he was dead beside her in bed. When her youngest daughter was pregnant, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died shortly after giving birth leaving Lois to raise her granddaughter until her son-in-law was settled enough to take over. 

I am sure that when you get to be 80 you learn as Lois did, that life has a way of beating us down. You either let go or get dragged. Lois rolled with the punches. That is why she influenced me in a positive way, and I have never forgotten her.