Life’s Not Ours For Wasting

I was born in 1910. My family farmed and ranched in Whitman County. There were seven of us children in my family; I was the fourth child born.

When I was younger, I never gave a thought as to whether I would make it into old age. I had one life-threatening illness, rheumatic fever and meningitis, when I was 21. I spent 15 months recuperating, and there was no treatment except bed rest. It made me stronger, I think.

I am 87 years old now and I never thought I would outlive all my family members, yet all my brothers and sisters are dead. Their spouses are dead, too. One brother died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Two more died of ruptured appendix.

I was 9 years old during the influenza epidemic and helped nurse the sick because my mother got ill, too. I took care of my twin baby sisters, then only 6 months old. My last sibling to die was one of those twins; she died two years ago. Being the babies’ nurse led me to the nursing profession, which I worked in for 40 years.

When I tell people that I am the last of my family members alive, they ask me whether I feel lonely. I do miss them, but I’m not lonely. I still have my wonderful husband, great stepchildren, grandchildren and many terrific nieces and nephews. So I never allow it to get me depressed, even though our family was very close. I know there is a cycle of birth and death we all live out. I have faith and think of my family a lot, but I go on.

I believe that the world my generation grew up in made us tough and durable. We lived through the Depression. I remember making $10 a month while in nurse’s training and I could live on that. During World War II, I worked as a nurse in the smaller towns around here and we nurses back then actually did a lot of what the doctors would have done had they not all been fighting in the war.

I’m sometimes asked the secret of growing older with a good attitude, even though I’ve lost so many people near and dear to me. I think the secret is to think of the world around you. Think of friends of yours in poor health and go visit them. Don’t forget the younger generation - spend time with young people. Belong to organizations. I’m a member of Women of Rotary and am active in St. Marks Lutheran Church. I still quilt and like to go antique shopping.

If you can go at all, go! That’s the secret!

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.