Don't worry, be happy

COOL!!! I needed something different to do on Sunday, so I called the Kennedy Center and got a wheelchair accessible matinee ticket to Hair. I'm totally psyched!! I've wanted to see this since I was 12!

But I digress... What I intended to talk about in this post is this really groovy (excuse me while I shake off the 60's vibes) old lady that has moved in. She is the mother-in-law of Liz Shawen.

Liz was City of Falls Church City Clerk for about 10 years (or longer) while I was City Registrar. We did not really work together much. She ran City Council and I ran elections. But our jobs held a very similar position in the overall "scheme of things". As a matter of fact, until the late 1960's, both of our jobs were merged into one position. Then the General Assembly created and mandated the position of General Registrar.

Anyway, Mrs. Shawen moved in here and she is a really neat lady. She's smart and funny and just enjoys everything just as much as she can. Back when it was warmer you'd find her out on the porch every day. I'd join her fairly often, and she'd say, "I don't understand! We have this beautiful big front porch and all these nice rocking chairs, and nobody ever comes out but you and me and Fred!" I usually had something with me to read, and she'd say, "Don't let me disturb you, now. You go ahead and read, and I'm just going to sit here and be quiet." But I think that the truth is that she didn't want me to disturb her, because she just loves sitting there quietly watching the traffic, and especially the big trucks, go by. She enjoys seeing the scenes painted on the sides of the big trucks.

She's so enthusiastic about anything she likes that it just makes me happy. For instance, I've started going up to breakfast on time, which I never used to do, because she enjoys her Cheerios so much.

Hard to believe she's 93. She, I guess, is a perfect example of the line I saw the other day in the book "Cats, Cats, Cats" by Andy Warhol, which was, "Why be sad if you can be happy?".