by Barbara Corrigan
Okay, here she comes. I know her routine. She puts on the Keurig coffee pot and grabs a banana. She is always the first one up. She used to put on the TV, which interrupted the silence I felt all night. I am so old now that I am happy when it is quiet. Actually, I am over 95 years old and have quietly been there with all those people who have spent time within my walls. I do like the sounds that have always been there, like the hissing of the radiator, the water from the running faucet and the whir of the refrigerator, but other noises just make me nervous.
When this family first moved here in 1972 they were very noisy. They put up a cuckoo clock on my wall. It drove me crazy. Then they got a dog called Tootles who barked wildly whenever the little cuckoo people came out of the clock to dance. Finally, one of the children pulled the chain, and the clock broke forever. Thank you, kids!
Now she puts on soft music, which makes me happy. The coffee pot she uses is much noisier than the old one she had when they first moved in. In the early days they used the stove to make coffee. It was a gentle perk like bubbles popping. She would turn it down and let it perk for about 8 minutes. Then she would pour the coffee into a cup for herself.
There was a lot of noise once the kids got up. She would make them cereal and toast. She would also put something called “pop tarts” into the toaster. They smelled really good, especially the blueberry ones. Once the people went outside, it got quiet again except for Tootles who barked when everyone went by.
When I was in my seventies, I had a makeover. Some men came and ripped down the Styrofoam ceiling and again I had a high ceiling. The lady ripped off the old wallpaper and had my walls painted. I also got a new ceramic floor and new Formica counter tops. I looked a lot younger then.
The lady and man don’t work anymore. The lady likes to spend a lot of time with me. In fact, I heard her say that I am her favorite place in the house besides the front porch and her bed. She likes to make soup and cookies. She watches cooking shows while she cooks. The man also spends time with me when he does the dishes while he watches his news shows which are loud and alarming to me.
I am happy I am still hanging on and have the man and lady keeping me company. The three children, who are grown up now, come to visit with their families. The lady cooks a lot when they come. They laugh about the way I looked when I was a lot younger. They are amazed at how good I look at my age. They still enjoy sitting around the table and eating. It makes me feel good that I can make them happy.
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Barbara Corrigan, a retired nurse, discovered her interest in creative writing as she journaled about her experience caring for her parents. In a later attempt to chronicle memories of her own life and her ancestors, she developed a collection of personal essays while attending the Springfield Museum School Writing Workshops.
Barbara Corrigan, a retired nurse, discovered her interest in creative writing as she journaled about her experience caring for her parents. In a later attempt to chronicle memories of her own life and her ancestors, she developed a collection of personal essays while attending the Springfield Museum School Writing Workshops.