Nursing Voices

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Life is Like a Rusty Buick

Photograph by Mother Jones, RN


Forrest Gump said that life was like a box of chocolates, but Millie would have disagreed. She had a different view on life. I met Millie in 1974 when she was 100 years old, and she was quite a lady. I learned many secrets from her about living a full life.

Millie had been a schoolteacher and a suffragette. She told me that the first presidential candidate she voted for was Woodrow Wilson because he had an honest face. Millie lived through the Great Depression, two World Wars, and witnessed countless scientific breakthroughs that changed our planet forever. She was a very wise woman. One day I asked her to tell me how she lived to be 100 years old. She said that life is like traveling down a bumpy road in a Buick. She said that a Buick has zip and vitality just like we have when we are young, and then, over the years, they wear out as they travel down the road. She said that we get more dents and dings in our body over time just like a car does, and that if we live to be 100 years old, our body is ready for the junkyard. She said that the secret to longevity is the ability to understand that we don’t stop living once our body turns into a rust bucket with worn out tires and too many miles on the engine.

And so it goes. Enjoy your weekend.

9 Comments:

Blogger Doc's Girl said...

Good advice all around! :)

3:11 PM  
Blogger The Curmudgeon said...

Yeah, but do I have to turn into Jack Benny's Maxwell?

3:31 PM  
Blogger Amrita said...

like your blog. Found it thru google.

12:09 AM  
Blogger Jean-Luc Picard said...

Doesn't that Buick get towed away to the crusher?

12:11 PM  
Blogger Smalltown RN said...

what a wonderful post and yes she does sound so very wise....sounds like someone I would have loved to have met...thank you for sharing her story....

10:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can feel my body rusting at this very moment. I went out for my usual 4 mile run this morning and ended up badly pulling the muscle in my right calf. This was a lot easier in 1980.

4:17 PM  
Blogger Janet said...

Great photo! What camera did you use and what were your settings?

7:47 PM  
Blogger Cyndy said...

Sensible woman, is Millie... ;0)

11:32 PM  
Blogger anonymousRN said...

Sounds like a very wise woman. :)

12:25 AM  

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