My neighbor turned 95 this weekend and he was gracious enough to let us celebrate with him. Family, friends and others descended on his home, ate his food, shared his local micro brews and tried, surreptitiously, to get some hints on longevity.
I will pause here to note that this wonderful and gracious man still chops his own wood with a good ol' fashioned axe! He also is fond of his woodchipper, especially early on a Saturday morning.
When lightning felled a very large tree in front of his house two years ago he was puzzled when our whole family came by the next morning to offer our assistance. Later that day, he and his 91 year old brother were at work with a chainsaw, TCB.
I was honored by the opportunity to join with the people who have known him all their lives to celebrate his. Though I have to admit I was a little nervous that the combination of my social akwardness and his hearing difficulties would create some embarrassment for my family.
I didn't want to act like a gushing idiot but I wanted so much to know what the world today, a world that has gone through so much, looks like through his eyes. But I held back. Instead, I tried to piece together a shaky understanding how much things have changed since the beginning of his life.
There is the significant fact that women did not have the right to vote until he was seven years old. Union membership was not only dangerous, it was potentially fatal.
Here are some fun facts about 1913. It was the year the first modern crossword puzzle was published in the New York World. Ballin' the Jack was the popular song of the day.
It was a year of some pretty serious stuff too. Harriett Tubman died in penury the year he was born. Two Constitutional amendments were ratified. Oh yeah, and people who looked like me were refered to as 'Negroes', if they were lucky.
There were some things I learned about him. He grew up on the land that he resides on today. He built his current house with his own two hands for the woman he fell in love with. He has raised three strong and beautiful daughters, one of whom was one of the fist female chiefs of police in the state.
It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with someone who, like many, has been through love and loss to some degree, loves cats and kids, and enjoys life. This diary is not meant to be a study of history (quite obviously) or a recap of the life of a man approaching a century of existence. It's just my small tribute to someone at 95 who I at first found quite intimidating but now see that his gruff manner is the source of his humor. To illustrate, he asked my four year old daughter to give him five and when she didn't he asked if she would rather he pull her hair or give her a pinch. Uh, without cracking a smile. She gave him the five. We are all learning.
P.S. I did not come away with any tips on making it past ninety with his kind of vigor but my great gramma (who lived to 103) used to tell us the key is not to sit down.
That might do it.