The 92-year-old, petite,well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she was legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
一同走过70个岁月的丈夫新近去世,搬到养老院是必然之举。
After 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 elevator I provided a visual description of her tiny room.
"I love it,"she started with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“我真喜欢这房间,”她热情洋溢的说,好像一个8岁的孩子刚刚得到了一只小狗一样。
"Mrs.Jones, you haven't seen the room… just wait."
“琼斯夫人,你还没有看到你的房间呢……还是不急着下结论。”
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged… it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's 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 be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away… just for this time in my life."