aging is such a strange and variable thing. i spent an hour and a half in the hospital last night, where papa spence has been since monday with an as-yet unidentified infection. he's in pretty good spirits, although his age is showing in his weariness and the back pains he is beginning to complain about. he gets a little ornery when the foul-breathed physical therapist makes him take a walk and do some stretches, but that's understandable. grandma spence, by his side, swims every morning and stays socially active, giving hours upon hours of service to a patriotic youth organization and others. they maintain a happy, reasonably healthy lifestyle, including plenty of travels, family fun, and other fulfilling expenses of time.

compare this to my sole living grandparent, my alzheimer's-ridden paternal grandmother. she's not at the dramatically bad stages of alzheimer's, meaning that she still has recognition and long-term memory. however, she addles my dad each day with dozens of phone calls because she doesn't remember that she just called two minutes before. she's not able to do much for herself these days, although she is still independently mobile. my dad, the saint, takes care of her as much as he can, with more patience than one man should be able to muster. but he does it, because it's his mother, and he wants to do what he can for her.

papa and grandma spence aren't any younger than my nagymama. but in their age, they've tried to continue to live their lives as much as they can. i think nagymama has just given up. while i think a major part of staying healthy is keeping your body and your mind active, you also have to have the motivation and ambition to do such. i hope i'll always have the verve to keep on truckin'...

get better, papa...