Author: Cappy Hall Rearick
Where Angels Gather
Nowhere is God’s grace more evident than when a Hospice Angel walks through the door. When Tom’s daughters had a heart-to-heart talk with him last April, he was the picture of a man at the end of his rope. Five months of caring for his wife, Jenny, had kept him awake most nights. Occasionally he catnapped in the afternoons, but it was n...Read More
A Kodak Moment
“Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.” ~ Paul Simon I have a picture of the Valentine birthday party my parents threw for me when I turned six-years-old. It is a day that will live in my personal infamy. Daddy took the photo with a Kodak Mama made him buy especially for the occasion. The photograph showed ten small bodies seated in a circle on...Read More
What Is Happiness To You?
Happiness is more than a warm puppy for seniors. Happiness is senior discounts, early bird specials and handicap parking. Happiness is grandchildren who call even when it is not your birthday. Happiness is a warm fire and all the books you have yet to read. Happiness is a paid off mortgage and/or a reverse mortgage. Happiness is hearing the word be...Read More
Advice My Mother Never Gave Me
You have muscles “down there” and you need to train them. They’re called Kegels and believe me, you want to learn how to squeeze those puppies dry. You won’t be aware of the Kegels until after you have born children and even then, muscles will bottom out on the childrearing spectrum. But one day your children will cease asking for your advice and y...Read More
Twist and Gout
It’s date-night at the Senior Center and Babe and I are perched at a table not much bigger than a Frisbee. If we can manage to squeeze onto the microscopic dance floor we plan to boogie all night long. My man loves to dance. When the band starts up with, “Sixty Minute Man,” Babe connects with the song and immediately yanks me on to the dance floor ...Read More
Cats In The Cradle
I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away I called him up just the other day I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind,” He said, “I’d love to, if I can find the time You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu But it’s sure nice talking to you. It’s been sure nice talking to you” The cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon Little ...Read More
A Christmas Feeling
“Oh my! It’s fruitcake weather, Buddy.” ~ A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote Our house is unusually quiet today while Babe recovers from serious but incredibly successful surgery, one that saved his life. He sleeps a lot. After a certain age recovery is no walk in the park. Emotionally, I swing between an overwhelming feeling of relief th...Read More
It Ain't Over Till It's Over
When it comes to food, Babe doesn’t complain about my cooking because he doesn’t do kitchens, he does football and golf. His remote speed clicks ESPN. He easily swings a golf club and catches a football with one hand, but so domestically challenged is he that he could get government assistance. B.C. (Before Cappy), he was the go-to guy ...Read More
Heads Will Roll
Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray. ~ Author Unknown I always loved the sound of my mother’s voice. It was unadulterated Southern and magnolia smooth. I heard it as she was wheeled into surgery. She said not to worry, that she would be back. She was wrong. Once while grocery shopping, I heard it again. As if she were whee...Read More
My Other Mother
Entirely too much time had passed since I visited the mother of my childhood friend. I looked at the diminutive woman seated across from me and marveled that at eighty-four years old, her unlined face showed not a trace of sorrow or sadness. Her smile was wide, her eyes brighter than mine, her laughter a violin lightly plucking the strings of my he...Read More
Postage Due
It is April 15th and much too close to five o'clock and within minutes the Post Office doors will slam. I race against time, alongside other last minute taxpayers. The parking lot runneth over but I spot a space about to open up. Drat! A Volkswagen zips by and grabs it before I can shove my car in gear. The driver leaves his motor ru...Read More
It's All Gone
“His body is here,” my friend said, “but the rest of him is in a place where I can’t go.” Susan’s husband of forty-four years has Alzheimer’s, the dreaded disease of so many seniors. Fortunately for Dan, Susan is a trained nurse with the compassion and patience of Mother Teresa. A spiritual person, she lean...Read More