I have a neighbor who is a competent, stylish, seventy year old, single woman. Her name is Grace.
Grace was laid off from her administrative-type job a little over two years ago and has been living off her savings ever since; home, but not
officially “retired”. Grace called me up one day about this time last year and asked if I had a ladder. She needed to clean out her gutters and wanted me (assuming I had one) to hold the ladder. Not climb up and clean the gutters mind you - just hold the ladder. As it happens I do have a ladder and being the magnificent procrastinator that I am, I said: “The leaves are going to fall off of the trees in a month, why don’t we wait and do it then?” She agreed and naturally we didn’t talk about it again until spring. Spring in Tennessee is a riotous affair weather-wise and we talked about it over the course of three weeks in which it rained nearly every day, then I got busy and Grace went into seclusion.
A couple of weeks ago, she told me she’d been spending too much money and decided to apply for a bar tending job at a local hotel. Now I don’t know about you all but I’d never considered what it would be like to apply for and begin a new job at the age of seventy. I’m fifty-three and the closer it gets the more I think about how great it’ll be if I can just get out of bed when I’m seventy. Anyway, she got the job, serving and bar tending banquets at the hotel.
The day she left for her training at 6am, I walked across the street with my ladder and cleaned out her gutters.
Grace was laid off from her administrative-type job a little over two years ago and has been living off her savings ever since; home, but not
officially “retired”. Grace called me up one day about this time last year and asked if I had a ladder. She needed to clean out her gutters and wanted me (assuming I had one) to hold the ladder. Not climb up and clean the gutters mind you - just hold the ladder. As it happens I do have a ladder and being the magnificent procrastinator that I am, I said: “The leaves are going to fall off of the trees in a month, why don’t we wait and do it then?” She agreed and naturally we didn’t talk about it again until spring. Spring in Tennessee is a riotous affair weather-wise and we talked about it over the course of three weeks in which it rained nearly every day, then I got busy and Grace went into seclusion.A couple of weeks ago, she told me she’d been spending too much money and decided to apply for a bar tending job at a local hotel. Now I don’t know about you all but I’d never considered what it would be like to apply for and begin a new job at the age of seventy. I’m fifty-three and the closer it gets the more I think about how great it’ll be if I can just get out of bed when I’m seventy. Anyway, she got the job, serving and bar tending banquets at the hotel.
The day she left for her training at 6am, I walked across the street with my ladder and cleaned out her gutters.
1153 Reads
- Posted by susanapics
- Apr 27, 2018
- Comments (15)
Readers Comments
pyronik wrote: well done for doing her gutters (hope you had someone to hold the ladder!), & how inspiring is Grace! Maybe things like clearing out the gutters that are keeping her young ;-)
kiwicat wrote: Thats a great story! Thanks for sharing it. I dont like cleaning out gutters.
RoseMarie wrote: So kind x
AndiCas wrote: Grace sounds like a star! Thanks for sharing your story.
kjoyw wrote: What a great share!! Both Grace and you are two amazing women!
alisamom wrote: hello fellow Tennessean! Nice to "meet" you here! :)) And what a wonderful neighbor you have!
susanapics wrote: Hello to you too allsamom, and thanks to EVERYONE for the nice feedback! Grace is a star (@AndiCas) and reports having had a successful first day :)
savrajkaur wrote: Such an inspiration! Go Grace! And so nice of you to clean put the gutters!
leoladyc728 wrote: What a spunky woman Grace is. Kudos to her and to you for cleaning out her gutters.
lindariebel wrote: Delightful surprise!
