The Twins Across the Street

Transition.

(oops! Did I just drop that word? How clumsy of me! And nowhere to put it. Maybe I'll just throw it up there, high on that shelf that I can't see or reach with a ten-foot pole, right next to "fasting" and "jihad"--out of sight out of mind.)

Across the street live two elderly couples. Already, communal living in the U.S. is odd enough. But even stranger, they always dress as twins. The men dress exactly alike, and the ladies dress exactly alike. Every day. I just saw the ladies leaving their house in dark blue elastic pants and light yellow sweaters. They had their basket on wheels, going to a store downtown. They brought so much order to my disheveled spirit. I thought, "their lives have continued past the age of 22. Now there is a feat. I can do this."

It is strange, the comfort I have taken in just seeing elderly people recently. In the high school where I was student teaching, most of the teachers were rather young, and of course the students were 18 or under. The university is comprised of many young people. Even my church is primarily under 35. I simply have not had a diverse range of ages in my life over the last four years. How sweet to see these two couples living in unity as though never perturbed. I wish I knew them. I wish I could see up close what thoughts come with being over 70.

My grandparents are now looking toward 80, and with it has come a marked change in their lives. My grandmother is looking after my grandfather, caring for the home, the expenses, the driving, the doctor's appointments. He is not allowed out of her sight for extended periods of time. They are downsizing: packing, selling, trashing, and preparing to move into a retirement community. My thought: major suckfest. But for what it's worth, it puts my own transitions into perspective.

I need less stuff. I need more Christ. I know the response post for this one, in three or four months' time, will be something to do with not knowing where I have put my hangers. They always seem to be lost in the shuffle. I know that uncertainty regarding a job will not be the determining factor of the age I live to see.

Maybe, one day, I will even marry a man with a twin brother; and I will walk to the store with this twin brother's wife, dressed exactly the same: a show of solidarity: we have lived long, and no amount of living can drive from us our sense of humor!