THOUGHTS ON AUNT GRACE

“You may be wondering what Buddhism has to do with growing older, but if you can accept that ‘non-attachment’ is helpful, you will discover that possessions aren’t as important as they were.” Rebecca Latimer, You’re Not Old Until You’re Ninety

I’m remembering my husband’s Aunt. Grace was someone I truly admired for her straight forward, no nonsense approach to life. Widowed for some time and living alone at 90, we often visited her in her small, tastefully appointed one-bedroom apartment in the upscale neighborhood of Central Park West in Manhattan, NY. Everything was in its place---clean and tidy. On one of our visits, I noticed something important about her lifestyle. She had enough money to buy out Saks Fifth Avenue, yet when she opened her front hall closet door to retrieve her coat for a walk with us to the grocery store, I noticed only these few items:

• an umbrella
• a rain coat
• a light weight coat for spring
• a heavy woolen coat for winter
• one pair of sturdy, fashionable overshoes
• one silk scarf and one woolen scarf
• one pair of well made leather gloves
That was all! And this was a woman who could afford to fill her closets three times over! I never asked her why she didn’t have an accumulation of things, but if I had, I’m sure she would have responded that living in a simple, uncluttered apartment made life much easier and more manageable.

Aunt Grace had a small simple kitchen with no fancy appliances---just the basics. She and several of her older neighbors checked in on each other daily. Grace loved traveling the world and yet she was down to earth. She loved being around people and around culture and the arts and so Manhattan suited her. No retirement home for her! In fact, she lived happily on her own, in her apartment until she left her interesting, beautiful and uncluttered life in her mid-90’s! When I grow up, I want to be Aunt Grace.