My Ego and the Nail Salon

At B's urging, I went to get my nails done today. Not because they're so hideous a man notices, but because he said it'd make me feel better.

While waiting for a massage chair to open up, I had to wait in the separate comfy couch area. There were two ladies sitting there, and I had an ego-istic reaction. I labeled them in unflattering terms with regard to age and weight and sat down on the ottoman, instead of the couch next to them. The large woman complimented me right away on my blouse, and this made me feel humble that I should have thought of them in an un-good way. The grandmother was commenting on her grandson thanking her for birthday money and how he didn't have to go to school till he was 7.

This peaked my interest and I butted into their conversation asking where this was, and told them I was a kindergarten teacher.

Come to find out through conversation with them, the grandmother used to be a kindergarten teacher too! And not only that, she taught at the church school until she was 80. Then after she went down the slide (at 80 years old) the school fired her, afraid she'd hurt herself on their watch. She was now 92.

92.

That number is just mind-boggling and awe-inspiring. She'd seen so much in her life. She was still in relatively good health, only took 1 medication, and didn't need glasses. I never would have guessed her over 75. She made jokes about looking good because she had a boyfriend, a "younger man" at 87. And how at the retirement home the women far outnumbered the men. Later on she also cracked a joke about how sometimes she thought her retirement home was more of a "retard" home. Anyone at 92 that can crack jokes about boyfriends and the declining mental faculties that she too is going through, is ok in my book.

And somewhere in my mind this morning I wondered. 92. Did she save enough for her retirement? Who among us thinks they'll still be in such good health at that age, yet alone alive? And she taught till she was 80! Amazing. Just amazing.

And here I might have missed out on all this, if I had listened to my ego, flaunting "separateness" and "better thans" rather than take each present moment for what it is, a gift, and everyone around us as part of who we are.