A Visitor

by montanaclarks

Look who came to visit–

Thursday morning I headed to Tucson to run errands before going to the airport about 4pm to retrieve a very special guest on her 84th birthday! I was going to fly to Arkansas and fly back to Tucson with her but Mom insisted she was perfectly capable of flying by herself–and she was! Mom is staying a month with us.

Friday the heating and air conditioning crew arrived–two very young people–their appearance made me wonder if they were old enough to know what they were doing. They did. Three hours later we had this–

Working heating and air conditioning mini split units. They are amazingly quiet and we are pleased!

Saturday was an incredibly long and hard day. The Cowboy while cruising through Craigslist found a set of really nice cabinets from someone’s living room–for free. The owner wanted someone to remove the cabinets and then she would give them to that person for free. Let me tell you, we earned those cabinets. When the house was built probably in the 70’s, this set of cabinets was built into the living room wall. New flooring had been laid around the cabinets. This house of ours is short on storage and we wanted these cabinets to go along the end wall of the porch–for storage. It took us over three hours of non stop work–hard work–to remove and load the cabinets into our truck and trailer. This is a photo of the 30 drawers found in this built in cabinet. Emmi went with us but Mom elected to stay home.

Sunday was another busy day. The Cowboy hung the living room ceiling fan–

He also hung some kitchen drywall.

And I had a long list–laundry, patching jeans, cleaning the refrigerator freezer where I let a can of coke explode!!, making tortillas, etc. We had a delicious Sunday lunch of steaks, baked potatoes, mushrooms and salads.

Our friend Jeane shared the following on Facebook Sunday morning and it hit home–it’s something on my mind a lot these days–

Barely the day started and… it’s already six in the evening.
Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday.
… and the month is already over.
… and the year is almost over.
… and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed.
… and we realize that we lost our parents, friends.
and we realize it’s too late to go back…
So… Let’s try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time…
Let’s keep looking for activities that we like…
Let’s put some color in our grey…
Let’s smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left. Let’s try to eliminate the afters…
I’m doing it after…
I’ll say after…
I’ll think about it after…
We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.
Because what we don’t understand is that:
Afterwards, the coffee gets cold…
afterwards, priorities change…
Afterwards, the charm is broken…
afterwards, health passes…
Afterwards, the kids grow up…
Afterwards parents get old…
Afterwards, promises are forgotten…
afterwards, the day becomes the night…
afterwards life ends…
And then it’s often too late….
So… Let’s leave nothing for later…
Because still waiting see you later, we can lose the best moments,
the best experiences,
best friends,
the best family…
The day is today… The moment is now…
We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.
Every evening we go over to the main house and enjoy the sunset–Sunday’s sunset was stunning!

18 thoughts on “A Visitor”

  1. WOW!!! That Facebook article really hit home!! I’ve been retired for 12 years now to care for Mom. She passed last year and now I am 68 and time is flying by and I don’t know which way to go now. So much on my punch list and I can’t get untracked!!
    Thanks for the wake up article!!
    Don in Okla.

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    1. I think this virus has made many of us think more about our age than ever before. My Mom was an energetic, do anything, hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon twice in her sixties kind of woman–then her health went downhill–she developed non diabetic neuropathy and that was the end of her walking/hiking. So get out there Don and get going!

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  2. Two nice looking ladies! And I absolutely love that poem! I relate as a 67yo man with a darling wife. I will copy that if that is okay? Take care, Rawn Stone

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  3. What a GORGEOUS Sunset!! Such blazing brilliant color to cheer us on to achieve the suggestions in the poem. How wonderful that your Mom was able to come and visit. Your southern home is coming together!

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  4. I love seeing you and your mom in the same place and for a month together. That is such a gift to you both and I know how much you will both cherish the time. The love in your faces is indelible. Enjoy!

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  6. So very special that your mom was able to make the trip and gets to stay for a month. I guess the person with the cabinets knew what a mess they would be to remove. So giving them away was the best option. Hope they work for you. Yes, living each moment in the best way we can is so important at this stage of life. Beautiful sunset!

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  8. What a great photo of you and your mom! How wonderful that she’ll be spending a month with you. Your poem resonated with me, too—I always want to slow time down. The best I can do is try to be present and grateful in this moment, and to do my best to live fully today. It’s a daily practice, that’s for sure. Happy Thanksgiving!

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