Adventures of Grandma Emma – inspiring to live life

By Amitabh Sharma

Grandma Emma*, as she is fondly called, possesses a never-say-die spirit in every ounce of her body. She’s agile, active, and puts a lot of younger folks to shame.

Emma, two years short of scoring a century, has creaking joints, as it would be the case with progressing age … or as one would jokingly remark, nothing that a WD40 can’t fix. Emma, who worked as a bursar in a high school most of her professional life, has long retired. She is an empty nester for decades now, but is living life to her fullest. She gets around with a walker, her brisk walk may have slowed down, but it has not dented her spirit of life by an iota.

Emma keeps herself busy, she goes grocery shopping to the supermarket down the street, goes to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions, and walks over to chat with her relatives who live in the community.

Boredom is not a word in her dictionary. She still manages to do a lot of household chores. If any semblance of boredom does hit her, the spirit of adventure takes over. She gets dressed, walks over to the bus stand across the street, and catches a bus, the first bus that comes, it may be going on any route. That’s her fun time, take a joyride in the bus, and since the drivers and conductors recognize her, she is well taken care of, she carries her ‘picnic basket’ with snacks and juice to keep her company. She rides the bus to its last stop, waits till it is ready to circle around for the return trip, gets off at her stop and walks back home.

Talking of life, Emma is the life of the party – she makes it a point to show up in her Sunday best when she’s invited to one.

In one such birthday party of her grandniece, who was turning 40, aroma of the food cooked on the grill was mixing seamlessly with the DJ belting out the best of rhythm and blues, reggae, disco beats, with the guests giving their best moves. The drinks and food was being served on the terrace, and here walks in Grandma Emma. She was given the choice to sit comfortably in the living room and watch TV. “Hell no!” she remarked. “I am not missing this party.” She hopped, stepped and jumped on the stairs and reached the terrace. And she danced, ate, and let her hair down, till the music stopped – to the joy of the birthday girl, family and friends.

She is an epitome of never say die spirit, an inspiration to many, and proves that age is but a number.

It is unfortunate that most people in her age, or even younger than her, give up on a lot of things in life – and they have their valid reasons – having lived their lives surrounded by family. Being active all their lives, taking care of their family, raising their children and making their house a home, their life and their world revolves around it.

The reality hits when their spouses pass on, children go away and what’s left are four walls and a ceiling. Grandma Emma is a living example that being alone doesn’t mean that you are lonely – life is for living and not waiting for the inevitable. She is living life and inspiring many others to live it too.
*Not her real name

(The Column Postcard from Jamaica appears every Wednesday.)

Read also:
Touchscreen phone and the dilemma of a Senior
Elderly Parents’ Day Out … that had their daughter on edge – I