I remember a popular book titled "The Five People You Meet In Heaven". Well, I'm hoping to meet more than that one day but for now I'll settle for the interesting people I've met in the hot tub while visiting my parents in the retirement community in Florida.
Really, you meet the most interesting people. From the young man in his 50's visiting his mom who considers himself an "easy going liberal" (which I didn't know existed and really am not sure I even know what that meant), to a woman from Sheboygan Wisconsin who shared memories of her younger days in the state my husband and I grew up in.
Then there are the people who are about 20-30 years older than us who talk about what it will be like when they get old. Hee hee. That one makes me laugh every time and I have to work very hard to not laugh out loud.
But for me the most memorable will be the man in the Outback hat. Born in 1928 this man was fascinating to listen to. I could have spent long hours hearing his stories. It wasn't just the story itself, but the delivery of it and the way his eyes danced as he shared childhood memories.
He remembers what it was like growing up during WWII. He shared how he remembers things like car tires were hard to get. However, his father was a doctor and so he was able to replace car tires when he needed to. Then he shared about the first car he bought. A young man in high school, he purchased a 1929 Model T with a friend of his. That was the only way he could afford it. They split the cost, $15 each! They saved a long time for it. They bought it from a farmer and walked out to the field where it was parked so they could take their new treasure home.
He said they couldn't get tires because of the war. At least not real tires. They got old tires made of poor material and worn out. They called them "50 mile tires" because that is about as far as they could get before one of them would blow. He remembers one time when his friend had the car and was bringing it back to his house because it was his turn to have it. He heard a car coming and then BOOM, followed shortly by another BOOM. Two tires blown out just like that. His eyes lit up as he shared the joy that noise was for him because he knew that meant the car coming down the road was his.
Then he and his friend painted their highschool girlfriends' names on the back windows of the car. The same back windows that he said came with shades when they bought the car, shades like house window shades with tassles on them and I think I saw him blush when he shared this story. He said both girls were quite angry and insulted when they saw their names painted on the back seat windows of the car. While they were doing the painting these two young men in their teens really didn't intend it to have the meaning their girls took from it but I could swear I saw a sly little smile come across his face when he shared this part.
He was so interesting and I wanted to hear more but his time in the hot tub was over. He got up and announced, "this lobster is boiled" and proceeded to leave the hot tub and went right into the pool that was about 20 degrees cooler. It was then that I understood the strength his old body still had. There was NO way I was going to go from that comfortable hot tub to the pool. The shock to my system I'm sure would cause some kind of medical condition that couldn't be good for me. Yet there he was, swimming as if it was as warm as bath water. Strong or a little nuts? I may never know.
Really, you meet the most interesting people. From the young man in his 50's visiting his mom who considers himself an "easy going liberal" (which I didn't know existed and really am not sure I even know what that meant), to a woman from Sheboygan Wisconsin who shared memories of her younger days in the state my husband and I grew up in.
Then there are the people who are about 20-30 years older than us who talk about what it will be like when they get old. Hee hee. That one makes me laugh every time and I have to work very hard to not laugh out loud.
But for me the most memorable will be the man in the Outback hat. Born in 1928 this man was fascinating to listen to. I could have spent long hours hearing his stories. It wasn't just the story itself, but the delivery of it and the way his eyes danced as he shared childhood memories.
He remembers what it was like growing up during WWII. He shared how he remembers things like car tires were hard to get. However, his father was a doctor and so he was able to replace car tires when he needed to. Then he shared about the first car he bought. A young man in high school, he purchased a 1929 Model T with a friend of his. That was the only way he could afford it. They split the cost, $15 each! They saved a long time for it. They bought it from a farmer and walked out to the field where it was parked so they could take their new treasure home.
He said they couldn't get tires because of the war. At least not real tires. They got old tires made of poor material and worn out. They called them "50 mile tires" because that is about as far as they could get before one of them would blow. He remembers one time when his friend had the car and was bringing it back to his house because it was his turn to have it. He heard a car coming and then BOOM, followed shortly by another BOOM. Two tires blown out just like that. His eyes lit up as he shared the joy that noise was for him because he knew that meant the car coming down the road was his.
Then he and his friend painted their highschool girlfriends' names on the back windows of the car. The same back windows that he said came with shades when they bought the car, shades like house window shades with tassles on them and I think I saw him blush when he shared this story. He said both girls were quite angry and insulted when they saw their names painted on the back seat windows of the car. While they were doing the painting these two young men in their teens really didn't intend it to have the meaning their girls took from it but I could swear I saw a sly little smile come across his face when he shared this part.
He was so interesting and I wanted to hear more but his time in the hot tub was over. He got up and announced, "this lobster is boiled" and proceeded to leave the hot tub and went right into the pool that was about 20 degrees cooler. It was then that I understood the strength his old body still had. There was NO way I was going to go from that comfortable hot tub to the pool. The shock to my system I'm sure would cause some kind of medical condition that couldn't be good for me. Yet there he was, swimming as if it was as warm as bath water. Strong or a little nuts? I may never know.
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