A Day at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha

Aging With Grace

Ruthie need not have worried about her transition from a condominium to Scandia Shores, for she is in a cheery place where she entertained us with her usual grace and hospitality.

And her humor has not faded. She refers to her lift chair as her “ejector seat” and demonstrates how it helps her get up after sitting and visiting awhile. She lets us know she doesn't cook or bake much and offers us rootbeer floats instead.

She asks if we know what the device in her bedroom is used for. It's a wonder she doesn't joke about it as her “gumball machine” for it sports a smooth slide on which roll down into a tray . . . her daily medicines. And that is after a voice prompts her that it's time to take her pills.

She is socially active, poised, and can still tell a good story from her years in Ecuador. The people you read about in books like Shadow of the Almighty were her acquaintances and friends.

Then there's Leonard and Imogene with an encouraging word and Imo helping our friend, Kay. Once again it was . . . you guessed it, rootbeer floats. More questions about what the radio station's English Language Service looked like before broadcasts finally ended and more stories from a bygone era rich with ministry, memories and people serving God in a different land.

Leonard tells a joke about a man who put on a new pair of socks every day and after a week he couldn't get his shoes on. He hasn't lost the humor he and Travis shared with listeners on “Cracker Barrel.”

He and Imogene greet me at their front door, Leonard in his “Biola Football-Undefeated since 1908” tee-shirt and so I ask if Biola has a team. “No,” he replies and starts laughing. That was just the beginning of a three-hour visit with friends I had only ever known before via e-mail exchanges.

It wouldn't be fair to say they're talking about the good ol' days, without mentioning their interest in our lives and work as well. They stay abreast of everything that is going on and know about our family. What a wonderful time.