Honk, Ava is 104, the sign said as I drove by. Looking quickly at the house, it had overgrown bushes and a heavy screened-in door. Yes, an elderly woman could live there, but 104 years old? Wow, that is amazing, so I honked for Ava. Way to go old gal.
As I kept driving I began to wonder what Ava’s life has been like. Did she always live in Cedar Rapids, IA? If she was born in 1912, what did it look like then and how has this town changed? Was she pretty or smart? Did she win the hand of a handsome man or did she settle for someone not so charming? Did she dream of traveling or was she a homebody that just wanted to stay put. Did Ava live a life of freedom or regrets? If I was to meet her would she even remember the life she lived?
Thinking about her made me remember a little old lady I cleaned for when I lived in Springfield Missouri as a poor married college student. Her name was Willette Lanning. When I knew her, she had just turned 80 years old. She stood only 4’10, but she wasn’t crouched over with a cane, no she was vibrant. As I vacuumed her curtains she happily spread her little body out on the living room couch to watch. Her arms folded under her head, she grinned as if looking up at a clear blue sky on a sunny day.
As I dusted old wedding pictures I pondered the strange young couple in the photo. She stood petite with dark hair pinned carefully under white veil next to her gargantuan husband. She smiled when she talked about his height. He stood 6’8, in a time when such height was only put on display at a circus. He was an accomplished cellist, and as she remembered his music she held her hands clasped under her chin and would even rock back and forth.
Theirs was a true romance. I don’t know how he died, I felt uncomfortable asking. Although Willette missed him, she didn’t lack a luster for life. Ironically, the bible college student that cleaned her house did. I was just climbing out of a year long depression and little did I know it would be Willette Lanning who would be the magic antidote to my gloom.
After I finished vacuuming, mopping and dusting she would invite me to sit at her breakfast nook for a simple lunch. She always served the same, Tuna fish sandwiches, an orange, and a glass of milk. As we sat together her face was beautiful. Sure she had lines, her hair was completely white and her clothes weren’t in style but it didn’t matter. We were obviously from different generations but my young womanly heart needed to know that I would make it through the pressure of young married life. I needed to know that being beautiful went much deeper than a flawless complexion and great hair. When time erased most of the beauty and charms of youth, I saw in Willette something deeper and richer gazing back at me as we paused for a quick prayer.
As I sat with Willette she would pat my hand and thank me for coming. “Oh you work so hard Dear,” she would say, “You are such a sweet girl, live your life for the Lord and love your husband.” I would smile back at her, picturing their wedding photo in my mind. Being 80 years-old seemed a million lifetimes away, but I hoped that I could someday live the life of Willette Lanning, a life of no regrets.
Happy 104th Birthday Ava, I hope you have lived a wonderful life. And to you friend who has taken the time to read this blog today. Thank you for reading my wandering thoughts. But I want to take a Wilette moment with you right now. Please pull up a chair and sit down for a tuna fish sandwich, a peeled round orange, and a glass of milk. You my dear, are so unique and special. Live your life with all your heart. For those regrets you may have, I have some too, but let them go. Try your heart at loving God and allowing his peace to flow over the brokenness, and please know that you are one of a kind, a master piece. That is what Willette would tell you.
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