A long while ago, I knew a sweet couple named Ben and Tillie. They lived in Mandeville, LA (across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans) and were in their seventies when I met them. Ben had retired years before and the two of them went everywhere and did everything together. I never saw one without the other. I was especially fond of Tillie, who, by far, wasn't what you might think of as your average "senior citizen." She had a soft, lilting Southern accent and a very long braid, which she wound around the top of her head. She had a beautiful garden and made weekly trips around town, dropping off bouquets to brighten people's days (I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of many of her "day-brighteners"). Tillie was fond of primary colors and dangling earrings (I think that's why I was drawn to her, I always tell my son, if somewhere down the line, he decides to put me in a home, I won't go without my earring collection!). For very many reasons, they were quite an interesting, I'd even say, extraordinary, couple. On her 75th birthday, Ben gave Tillie a powder blue Cadillac convertible. I worked in Mandeville at that time and I often saw them flying around town, Tillie at the wheel, with the top down on that Caddy, chords of classical music trailing behind them like a sweet echo of Ben and Tillie themselves. I like to think that they're cruising among the clouds now, enjoying the music of the angels. And that Tillie is still wearing her trademark earrings.
The quotes on this page are from a book Tillie gave me the last time I saw her. The inscription reads, "Dearest Nancy, always enjoy the little things...one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things. Love, Tillie"
As she usually was, Tillie was absolutely right about that. The name of the book is "Simplify."
Enjoy, Nancy |
