If you areelderly acquainted with an elderly citizen you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. I often hung clothes out in the backyard and I would hear sweat echoes of  “  your my little girl forever” . H’m I thought , I couldn’t really see past all the trees whom my neighbor was talking to. I thought he was talking to his wife, I later learned that he was never married and that he was talking to his dog. I thought to myself any one that could be that loving to his animals has to be a wonderful person.

After wandering with curiosity to my back yard I got to meet this wonderful of gentalman. He was a retired horticulturist with a memory of a youth. His age of a mature 70 something sure didn’t interfere with his knowledge of plants. I assisted him with some backyard weeding after  insisting on that 98 degree day. His frame tall and slender but his legs were weakened by old age, he often walked with a cane.  After standing and chatting for a while about my vegetable garden I learned that he was a cook and baker such as myself.

Many neighbors overlooked Carlton seeing that he no longer had any living family. I had heard that Carlton needed transportation to his doctors appointments so I volunteered. Carlton soon became one of my best friends. I looked forward to his appointments so that I could hear his stories of reminiscing. He had the most amazing “old Time” things to talk about, such as when his mom was ill some medical practices they used long ago, or discuss the prices of things of yesteryear.I couldn’t help wondering what he thought of our 3.59 gallon of gas price when he remembered only paying 5 cents a gallon. He descibed  back in the days as a pleasurable simple no additive kind of life. Certainly with no computers or cell phones. After some trips to the doctor old Carlton was admitted to the hospital. I could see that he was wearing out of time. His frail self had had enough. Prior to his hospitalization Carlton’s love of his life , his dog had passed on. In the back of my mind I knew that my new friend would not be happy without his dog and he would no longer have the will to live. Sure enough after visiting him at the hospital he passed away, but the impact he had on me in such a short time gave me much appreciation for life as we see it.