Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World

Comments #9815809:


Tarmaque

665
Respect your elders 10 5, 12:19pm

@songbird2384 My own Grandfather (one of them) fought in WWII, then came back and worked in plywood mills the rest of his life. He retired at 67, and didn't do much anymore but lay on the couch and read and watch TV. I watched him slowly get weaker and weaker, went through a bout of throat cancer and lip cancer (he chewed tobacco his whole life) and finally die at the age of about 75. If you don't move, you die.

On the other hand, Grandpa John has been retired for more than 30 years. Back about 10 years (he was 94ish) we had to chase him down off the roof of his 2-story house. He was cleaning the gutters! A few years later his wife died at the age of 97. She's buried in the cemetery a couple blocks from his house. They were married for over 75 years! He still wears her wedding ring on a chain around his neck, and when the weather is nice he walks (staggers) over to visit her a few times a week. For five or six years he visited her every day, until walking got too difficult for him.