Week 44 of the 52s...Lessons at Lunch

Friday morning:  When I originally wrote this post on Tuesday, I was thinking more about the women and the experience of hanging with them.  But in hindsight this adventure was one of the better ones I've had this year and most definitely should be included in the 52s.  I decided to do just that.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sunday afternoon I get a phone call.  Bunny, one of the women I know up the mountain, wants to make a date for lunch.  We do this every couple of months and this time agree on Tuesday, I offer to drive, we're good to go.

Today I stop by her house to pick her up; there's another woman with her that I don't recognize.  Turns out Bunny's best friend of 50 years has unexpectedly arrived for a brief visit before she makes her way home to Canada, after a month traveling in Europe.  By herself.  With a shoulder bag, a passport, phone and an iPad.

{Before we go on, here's a little tidbit:  Bunny is 79, Jean is in her mid-80s.  Both women are great-grandmothers, but take away the wrinkles and holy crap, stand back because they will roll right over you on their way to living life to the absolute fullest}

We get to the restaurant, place our orders, then I just sat back and listened.  It was like looking into the future with my BFF when we (hopefully) reach this exalted age: lots of inside jokes, raucous laughter, and true enjoyment in the familiarity and ease of their friendship.  The BFF and I have told each other things no one on the planet will ever know...and Bunny and Jean were exactly the same, I could tell.  It was really cool.

At one point, Jean's phone rings (Born in the USA), she yanks it out of her pocket and begins texting faster than a 12 year old--speed texting that was awesome to behold.  When she's done, she drops the phone on the table, turns to Bunny and says, "Philippe." (she says Phileep in French).  Bunny raises a brow, they look at each other, Jean nods once.  Nothing more is said.

I have just witnessed an entire conversation about...something...and only one word was spoken.  I totally loved it.

We talked about Scotland, Europe, places we've been, then Bunny asked me how the blog was going and the writing.  Jean is intrigued and we spend more time talking books and writing and somehow meander our way into discussing photography.  This inspires Jean to hand me her phone to take some shots of her and Bunny.  Hilarity ensues as they act like high school girls in a photo booth at the mall.

I mention that I've had no luck at all with the selfie thing and in fact posted a truly regretful photo awhile back on the blog that frankly I should remove before people either turn into stone, or a pillar of salt.

Can of worms slowly opens...

Turns out Jean is fluent in high tech everything.  Guru status.  She begins rattling off all kinds of stuff that flies right over my head--and I'm pretty tech savvy myself...or thought I was until meeting an 80-something great-grandmother.  She asks if I have a tablet, I say yes, she whips hers out of a large pocket of her bag and starts to tell/show me the best apps, what each one does, which to avoid, yada yada. 

Holy Overload, Batman!

In an effort to stop the data dump, I tell her I'll try her top pick one of these days.  In the near future.  If I ever again want to take a crap photo of myself.  I think that's the end of it.

Never underestimate a woman who travels the world in her 80s with just a single bag, her passport, a phone and an iPad.

We pass my house on the way to Bunny's.  Which Bunny mentions as we approach my driveway.  The next thing I know, we're are trooping up the stairs so Jean can show me the exact app to load and how to use it on my tablet.  I was a bit overwhelmed--not my usual state--but too late, they're now in my living room.

And buggers, but she was good.

My own version of the photo booth...



My very first, real and authentic selfies.  It was wild, and fun, and I was completely, utterly exhausted when they left an hour later. The energy was thrilling...and death-defying.

I had the best lunch ever, and besides getting tech lessons, I learned a really great thing: just because someone has decades under their belt, doesn't mean they're old.  They danced rings around me.

I want to be just like them when I grow up...