My friend Swan had a neighbour called Violet. She was eighty six years old when I first met her. Swan and I called her Auntie Violet. The latter was as healthy as you and I could imagine. On her last trip to Melbourne, Australia, she would go bush walking every weekend with her grand son. Once she even climbed a small mountain.
For a senior citizen, she was having a good life. She lived in her daughter's condo. When she wanted to, she cooked. But when she felt lazy, she drove out to eat. She had 20-20 vision. No serious illness either. She even could not remember the last time she had a cold, let alone flu or cough. Once, on a dare to prove a point, she jumped rope a hundred times.
Sad to say, beautiful flowers fade and good time does not last. She began to forget things. The most difficult call from her to Swan was when she could not remember how to drive home. Swan managed to calm her down. Then she instructed Auntie Violet to drive along the fencing until a school sign board was located. Thus Swan drove to that school, which was not very far away, and led the old lady home.
Next thing we know, Auntie Violet had an accident in the underground car park. The repair bill came up to seventeen thousand dollars. There after she stopped driving. I still saw her at banks and supermarket in the neighbourhood. Gradually she could not remember my name. After that her daughter sent her to an old folk's home.
Until now I wonder how a healthy person like her could lose her memory. Alzaimer's? Dementia? Old age? Or could it be that she avoided oil and fat of all forms for many long years to maintain good health? That strong heart of hers may yet beat for ten or twenty years.
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