Today I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Clem Powers. Missy and I went to visit Mom together, and take her Christmas tree down. After some small talk, I took Mom for a walk outside while an exhausted Missy took a nap. As we were leaving, Mom told Missy "If anyone comes by, tell them that Pearl went walking with her Mom." Her mom?? I'm your daughter, Mom.
It was so beautiful today, weatherwise. I was wondering whether she had caught on to the fact she is in a locked unit yet. She was confused about things like which floor we were on...but recognized the entrance. "Oh, this is where we got dropped off in the car."
We met Mr. Powers while sitting in the rockers out front. He told me he'll be turning 100 next month! He and I chatted about New York...both Brooklyn and upstate, and he knew so many details. I asked what year he was there... 1940!! Wow. That was the year my mother was born. He talked about bundling his kids up to see the Dodgers play at...I think he said "Ebits field". (I need to look that up)
He told us he had been living here for 10 years now. My mom said "I've only been here for what... 8 months now?" 8 days, Mom. "Oh, right. 8 days" then she noticed the flowers -
"This is such a beautiful Garden. I remember when Chuck got his trumpet. It took him so long to learn to blow and get a note out of that thing. He would drive everyone out of the house!" "Do you think we should go back in?" Mr. Powers wished us both well, and told my mom she was going to love living here.
We slowly made our way back upstairs, I woke up Missy and headed out. As we were leaving, we saw Mr. Powers, who was still sitting in the rocker. Have a Happy New Year, Mr. Powers
"You too, Kim. It was nice to meet you." He had remembered my name, and he is 99. Some day my mother may not.
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