On the 2nd Day of Giving...

I have to tell you something. I love old people. I'm not sure if that's politically correct or not. Maybe I'm supposed to say elderly. Or aged. Or pensioners. But, basically, I love anyone over the age of 70.

And I chose 70 and up b/c my dad entered his 60's this year and I can't bear to put anyone in their 60's in the old/elderly/aged/pensioners category.

The day my dad is officially classified as "old" is the day I'll cry myself to sleep. I can't bear the thought of my parents aging.

But that's besides the point. The point is that I heart old people. I think they're fascinating. I think you can learn a lot from them. I think they're smart, educated, and super wise and that it would do us all a bit of good to sit at an older person's feet once in a while.

I am utterly fascinated by the early 1900's up to 1949. I think it's amazing how differently my in-laws lived during WWII in England vs my grandparent's in rural Tennessee. (Sim's parents are the same age as my grandparents.) I am amazed at how strong and resilient people were back then. I'm in awe of how people lived without washing machines and cars (at least my grandparents did) and indoor plumbing.

Speaking of which... did you know that my generation - those in their 30's- is the last generation to experience what it's like to grow up without computers and CD's and DVD's and cell phones? We didn't have any of that until I was about 19 or 20. Can you imagine what our grandchildren and great-children are going to think about us?

I guess they're going to be as fascinated by us as we are our grandparents generation...

Okay, anyway, my love for old/elderly/aged/pensioners is what led us to our 2nd Day of Giving. We decided to have flowers delivered to a resident at our local nursing home.

I called them up on Friday and told them our plan. They were so nice and super excited about it. They said a new resident was moving in that very day and although they didn't know much about her, they said she was very aware of what was going on and they gathered she didn't have much of anything.

Sniff. Sniff.

So they said she would be the perfect recipient for our 2nd Day of Giving.

Then, I got online and found a local florist. Good grief. Do you know how much flowers cost? Honestly? The cheapest we found were $49.99!!! I ended up picking a gorgeous bouquet in a clear lavender vase... but with tax and delivery fee, they cost $71!!! My heart sunk when I saw the total. We hadn't budgeted for that at all. That's almost our grocery budget for a week. That's the same amount we spent on Christmas presents (including Santa presents) for each of our kids. But I'd already promised that we'd have flowers delivered.

My dad later asked why I didn't just buy flowers from Walmart and leave them at the front desk of the nursing home. Now, why didn't I think of that? I guess it's because he's old, aged, elderly and a heck of a lot wiser than me.

And fortunately, Sim didn't flip out... too much. He's used to me jumping into things with both feet.

Anyhow, what's done is done and the kids and I are so excited to think that Miss Barbara is going to get a surprise visit from the florist sometime today.

We drove by the nursing home on the way to school this morning and imagined what the residents were doing. Where they just waking up? Eating breakfast? Watching TV? We also talked about things we'd miss when we got older.

And then we prayed for Miss Barbara on the way to school. Prayed that she'd have a smooth adjustment to the nursing home. That she wouldn't be too sad. And that the flowers would cheer her up.

Now, on the scrapbook page.

Can you tell that it's only Day 2 and I've already lost my vision? We glued a Dollar Tree ornament (4 to a pack) to the top and a holly shaped gift tag to the bottom. The gift card opens up to show the flowers we bought, along with Miss Barbara's name, and a quote about how opening our hearts is better than opening our presents.

It's pathetically sad, isn't it?

But the one for tomorrow is a lot cuter. Or so I think.

Happy 2nd Day of Giving everyone!