Romance writer

Too funny.
http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/02/08/16899477-romance-novelist-jessica-blair-is-an-89-year-old-man?lite=

Most of the old people I know, not including my own self, (hahahah) are sitting on the porch looking out at the sand in their drive contemplating absolutely nothing, nodding off and waking with a start. The flies are more active than they.

Today, I was thinking about time. At my 70 years, I have lived 3,640 weeks. I looked at the number and thought that I must be putting a decimal in the wrong place but, like it or not, I have lived only 3640 weeks upon this earth. I went a step further and find that 70 years only means 25,550 days,

I feel cheated!!!!Someone should have told me that time flies! Well, maybe they did, but they did not make me understand it!

If I had saved a dollar ever day of my life up until 70 years, I would only have $25,550 dollars.

I must value time better. I must value each day, each hour, each week with more appreciation.

Life is the prize.

Love,

Betty

My Great-grandfather Hughes lived well into his 90's. The last few years, he was bed-ridden. He shared a room in a rest home with an old gentleman in a wheel chair. One day he told my grandmother and me he wasn't sure he liked his room mate, because he was lazy - never got out of that chair. My grandmother chided him, "But Daddy, he's just too old to work anymore"

Grandpa's response? "Yes, but last spring, he borrowed my seed corn and still hasn't paid me back."

Grandma and I giggled after we left the room. Not too many years later, I wrote this poem to honor her:

Quote :

The Rest Home

The hands, so strong, that used to knead
The biscuits while I watched them work
(My eyes just reached the table-top).
The hands that held mine tightly as
We pushed the dasher in the churn
Now sit sedately in her lap.

The eyes that always sparkled still
Smile brightly as we talk. She said,
”I’m glad you’re here. It’s good of you
To come and see me now and then.
Your children sure have grown, I think
They’re taller than they were before.”

But now the eyes grow distant, and
It seems as though she sees a place
That’s somewhere else. Her hands now move
And grasp The wheels that hold her chair.
She wheels away and down the hall
As though we were no longer there

“I have to go to Groveton now.
I’ll stop by sister’s when I’ through
And help her with the milking
We have so much work to do.
And then I have to hoe the garden
And the pickles have to be put up…”
Pulse magazine 1979

A few years after that, my mom and aunt and I were going through Grandma's things, just after she died. There was an old roll-top desk with yellowed papers, some of the dates going back to the years of her childhood.

Among them was a small scrap. The writing was faded and hard to read, but together, my aunt and I made out the words: IOU to Nathan Hughes - 5 bags seed corn. (signed) David Thorne (a brother-in-law).

I could hear Grandma giggling with me as I told Mom and Aunt Thelma the story.

Betty, enjoy your work as long as you can.

After you cannot or after you simply choose to stop, know you have permission from the Universe to just BE. You have more than earned it.

Annie

Liked the poem Ann. Stories of getting old, and then of being old may vary, but can be revealing to the young. I think it helps in preparing for the inevitable. At age 70, one begins to appreciate every day more. Having a goal to pursue is important in keeping one active. Writing may be the answer for some even if only writing a memoir for future generations.

When I wrote my romance novel, "Journey into the Past" I had the help of a female writer. As indicated on LC's post, the male romantic UK author did get female feedback for his novels. At age 89, he's still writing.

Ann,

You never cease to amaze me.

LC,

I tip my hat at any 89 year old writer who can still captivate an audience with romance novels regardless of sex. More power to him.

Oh, I applaud that guy for being so active at 89. I think that if he can write books from a 20-something female standpoint and be successful, what excuse do the rest of us have? lol

Quote :

If I had saved a dollar ever day of my life up until 70 years, I would only have $25,550 dollars.

Not with all those years of compound interest! (although with interest rates what they've been for at least the past five years, maybe so....)