Thursday 24 November 2016

Guest Post by my Mum: Almost 103!

My Mum wrote this for my blog the other day. I hope you'll like it as much as I do!
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Such is life.

Recently I emptied my postbox, and it contained two extremely different letters:

The one was a birth announcement for a little baby girl named Annika Sophie, with cute fotos and very happy parents.

The other one was quite the opposite, a cousin of mine telling me that her mother Berta had passed away at the age of nearly 103 years!

She was born when in Germany we still had Kaiser Wilhelm, she was already alive in World War I, though a little child, then lost brothers in World War II, her husband was missing for a long time, and all the time she lived in a small village near my hometown, from birth to death. 
You can imagine how many people came to the funeral.

I remembered, when I was a child, we often went so see the family, I played with my cousins, my aunt was a good cook and very good host. Later my mother and I visited her from time to time and always got a pretty good cup of coffee and cake or cookie, homemade, of course.

The last 13 years her mind vanished, at last she didn't even recognize her own daughter and son. So sad.



But- such is life, the little baby arrived, and the old aunt died.

When I told my brother, he said: So it makes me thinking, that now we are next. Before, there have been always the older ones "before" us, but now... Well, I don't want to complain, I want to stay around much longer!!! But I will enjoy every good day, and that is what I want to recommend to eveybody.

- - - end of guest post - - -

I do not remember my great-aunt Berta, but one of her granddaughters. We weren't close but knew each other through school; we did not attend the same family gatherings.
Of course I want my Mum and Dad to stay around for many more years to come, too! And like her, I enjoy every good day - I know very well how sudden our days can end. Thankfully, nearly every day for me is indeed a good day. I am very lucky at that, and I know it.

27 comments:

  1. Ah, this is a profound guest post. One that addresses the big mystery of life from our point of view, and the lifelong challenge of understanding time. One's perspective changes as one ages. I so agree with your Mother's thoughts on enjoying each good day as it comes.

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    1. So do I, Kristi.
      Yes, our perspective changes as we get older, and I find it fascinating to observe this change in myself.

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    2. Thank you for your kind comment, dear Kristi. In the month of november in Germany are many memorial days, so it makes one thinking more of life and death.

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  2. I love this post. I especially love her sentence about the little baby arriving and the old aunt dying. I put that sentence in my book of quotes. You are truly blessed to still have both your parents. I wish every day that I still had mine.

    Diane in North Carolina

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    1. Hello Diane, I believe this is your first comment on my blog - welcome!
      Yes, I am truly blessed to have my parents and my sister all close by and hope it will stay like that for many more years!

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    2. Thank you for your kind comment, Diane. Yes, such is life, as I wrote: One comes, one goes....

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  3. Ah yes, I realise that I have had a very lucky life filled with family and love. We are not a demonstrative family but we are always there, hovering around each other and participating in each other's lives." Enjoy each day" is such a good mantra. I think that the Thanksgiving Day that is celebrated in the USA is such a great idea. I wish Australia would adopt it.

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    1. In Germany, Thanksgiving is celebrated in church only, not the kind of holiday it is in the US. Also, it is earlier in the year, just after the harvest is brought in.
      Good job that we can give thanks every day if we like :-)

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    2. Thank you, Helsie, I am glad, that you like my mantra!

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  4. Profound post. Thank you Meike's mum! And Meike, too, for sharing it with us.

    You must have good genes in your family, having an aunt reaching such a grand age! Good genes is half the battle!

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    1. You're welcome, Jennifer.
      Aunt Berta was not a blood relation to us, I think; if I am not mistaken, it was her husband who was my grandmother's cousin and she married into the family.

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    2. Thank you for your kind comment, Jennifer. and Meike is right, aunt Berta was the wife of my uncle Willy.

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  5. Love this post from your Mum. It makes you think when you have birth news and then news of a death at the same time. Angels, I know you believe in them, they are with us at all times.

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    1. Thank you, Kay! I am sure my Mum is reading everyone's comments and will probably reply to you, too.

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    2. Thank you, Kay. You are right with the angels: Especially now in Christmas time quite a lot of little angels are flying around in my flat. (made of wood, of paper, of wax, tin a.s.o.)

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  6. Yes, that is a thought-provoking post. Thanks Meike's mum! Aunt Berta lived through so much, too. Tempus fugit.

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    1. Tempus fugit indeed. You know, I was almost sure I'd once (years ago) written a post with that title (Tempus Fugit), but putting it in the search bar of my blog shows nothing.
      Maybe I had this old post of mine in mind. The sad thing is, only two weeks after I wrote it, my husband died.

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    2. You are welcome, Mike. Thanks for your kind comment.

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  7. A nice post from your mum, and a good comment from you! You always seem to be a very constructive family, and it is good to know you are usually happy, although I seem to pick that up from your blog.

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    1. Thank you, Jenny! Yes, we know and appreciate how good our lives are, largely free from worries about the basics such as food, shelter, work, and with the immediate family all close by and in a town that allows for a comfortable life. It always saddens me when I hear or read of people who do not get along within the family, or even have stopped talking to their own parents, siblings or children.
      Of course we are not always of the same opinion and sometimes have a rather different attitude to certain things in life, but what we share is more important than where we differ.

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    2. Thank you, Jenny. We all are happy to live quite nearby, if we want, we can see us easily, if not.....

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  8. Thanks for sharing (both of you). My aunt turned 80 this year, I'm thankful she and her husband are still in good health and certainly of sound mind. It is strange to think that she is now older than my parents were when they died (mum in 2009 and dad in 2011, and neither of them lived to celebrate their 80th). It is strange indeed when one has to start thinking of oneself as being in the older (oldest) generation!

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    1. Inevitably, that (being the older generation) will happen to all of us, unless we die young. I'm glad your aunt and uncle are still around, and your brother, too. I guess no matter how old and "grown-up" we are, it is always tough when we have to say good-bye to our parents.

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    2. Thank you for your kind comment. You understood, what I wanted to say.

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  9. In the midst of life we might have the illusion that it will all last forever - friends and family and routines but then gradually it all falls apart and we are left with empty spaces where the departed ones used to be. Nothing lasts forever so we must try to make hay while the sun shines.

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    1. That is a very true saying! Thank you for your kind comment!

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