Giving Back

I've posted a couple times about my WWII vet, and his lovely bride. This post is just something that I've been thinking about for awhile and, although, I'm sure you get tired of reading some of my topics, I decided to post another one on old people. My first visit with Bob and his wife was at the beginning of the month. I admit, it was 100% selfishness on my part. You see, like I said, I have a thing for geriatric aged people and he fought in the second World War. I wasn't sure if he would want to talk on the subject, but I at least wanted to shake his hand and thank him for his duty, and for his sacrifice to our country. It wasn't until my husband and I paid them a visit at their apartment a few weeks later that I realized how much they were getting out of it. They were so excited when they found out we wanted to have lunch with them. Most of us, or at least I would frantically pick up the house, run the vacuum, make it appear that no one lives at home to make a messy house. They didn't. They were so excited to have company that they weren't worried about any of the unimportant bullshit of everyday life. They treated us to lunch, gave us a tour of their apartment complex, introduced us to their favorite neighbor and she even had me meet her hair stylist. I thought for sure they'd be exhausted by the time we returned to their place but they were ready to spend a few hours visiting. When we were saying our good-byes she walked us to our car and she begged us to not forget them. That's what the moral of this blog post is. We didn't do anything special for them, we just simply gave them our afternoon. That made their entire month, she said. We're going to pick them up Monday and take them over to meet my father-in-law who is a retired Marine Colonel and they couldn't be happier. 
Believe me, I'm not patting myself on the back, although, it does kind of appear that I am. I'm just saying that it means the world to people when YOU stop by and say hi. In fact, I'm a bit embarrassed, but there's a friend of Mom's whose house I drive by twice a day. I stopped in to visit with her about a year ago and she couldn't stop smiling. She reminisced about my parents, the kids, me and my brothers. What life used to be like. It made me feel good to know that I brightened her day. But, I haven't been back. I tell myself, twice a day, that I need to stop but I don't have longer than a few minutes so I don't. So, shame on me! Before we leave for our Virginia trip, I'm going to stop, if only for a few minutes, which will inevitably turn into a couple of hours. But, I'm willing to give up an afternoon to make her feel remembered and loved. 
Okay, I'm off of my high horse now. Thanks for reading :)