The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o\u2019clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
\nAfter many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. \u201cI love it,\u201d she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
\n\u201cMrs. Jones, you haven\u2019t seen the room \u2026. just wait.\u201d
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t have anything to do with it,\u201d she replied. \u201cHappiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn\u2019t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it\u2019s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It\u2019s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I\u2019ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I\u2019ve stored away, just for this time in my life.\u201d
\nShe went on to explain, \u201cOld age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you\u2019ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.\u201d
\nAnd with a smile, she said: \u201cRemember the five simple rules to be happy:
\n1. Free your heart from hatred.
\n2. Free your mind from worries.
\n3. Live simply.
\n4. Give more.
\n5. Expect less<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o\u2019clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently … <\/p>\n