"I Want to See King Street"

I am blessed to have the friendship of an 87-year-old spry, independent, technology-loving, God-honoring, dignified woman. We met at a women’s retreat about ten years ago where I was a speaker. In getting onto the bus to head home, she fell and broke her hip. I visited her while she was in rehab and our walk together began.

Enjoying hot chocolate at Venture Chocolate & Wine Co.

She’s my gardening go-to person, my Bojangles Chicken buddy, and trusts me to join her for medical appointments to be her second pair of ears. She is truly a treasure which I am immensely grateful for.

As with most seniors, following the news and weather reports is an integral part of her daily routine. She has a favorite meteorologist who reports on the winter snowfalls from King Street in Boone, NC. My dear friend has been infatuated with seeing King Street for herself for the past few years. Her birthday was this month and to honor her, I asked what she would like from me. You guessed it! “I want to walk down King Street, buy some mountain apples, and see God’s country” which she calls the mountains. So, my husband and I looked at a date to make that birthday wish come true.

The morning of our trip was overcast but right in line with a typical fall day. She was sitting on the porch waiting when we arrived. She usually hops up and heads toward me but she did not move until I was closer. She informed me that her eyes were giving her trouble that day and she didn’t recognize me. Glaucoma and cloudy days are not her friends. I knew we’d have to adjust our pace to accommodate her walking and vision challenges. My dear friend’s slow methodical steps to the vehicle reminded me, Hmmm, age is more than just a number.

My Dear was pretty quiet on the drive up so we wondered if she was uncomfortable in some way. She told us, “I’m just so happy to be going to God’s country to see the leaves and walk on King Street.” I thought to myself, Wanda don’t stop being excited about the simple things in your life. The day will come when simple things will be considered great things.

We made it to Boone and told her that we were on King Street. She perked up like a peacock, looking from one side of the street to the other, and exclaimed “Oh, I’m on King Street!” It took some time to park because we had to consider distance, parking lot surfaces, and gradients. None of these things do I have to give thought to myself. But my maternal grandmother used to say, “If you live long enough, things change.” Simple? Yes.

Here we go, onto King Street. You would have thought my dear friend was going to see someone or something famous! She had pep in her step, a smile from ear to ear, and excitement in her voice that brought tickles to both my husband and me. As she looked around, she said that on television it looked bigger. We explained how cameras can distort reality. That reminded me of a visit I made to the property where the television show DALLAS was filmed. I was so taken aback by the fact that the swimming pool was not extravagant in size and the rooms inside the house weren’t even full-sized. It was all a work of camera lens techniques that gave a misleading impression of the vastness of the famous South Fork ranch. That got me thinking, our life experiences, ideologies, and biases also serve as lenses that can fabricate misleading impressions regarding our interpretation of life and the world.

We proceeded to find a vegetable stand to purchase the apples and move on up the Blue Ridge Parkway into more of “God’s Country.” We took our time, making frequent stops to take in the beauty and magnitude of the parkway. We wanted her to delight in every moment of this trip.

As my husband and I drove home after dropping her off, we chatted about aging and growing older together. It’s not that we’ve not had this conversation before; money for healthcare, staying in our home versus assisted living, remaining in the same city as at least one of our kids, you know, that kind of conversation, but there was something about hanging out with my

One of the lookouts along the parkway

dear friend that reminded us that these conversations may be tough at times but they are our reality. There’s more to aging than sitting on the porch swing holding hands and listening to the birds chirping. But no matter how complicated aging may become for us, I hope we will have experienced enough simple pleasures together to keep us through the hard times.

Always encouraging reflection,

WandaP