TC has been busy with his new job leaving Peg to fend for herself. She decided to give FaceTime a try and had a delightful chat with the editor about her cousin-in-law who happens to share the same birthday as TC. Read on! –the editor
THIS IS HOW SHE DID IT…
INT. JEDEMI HQ UPSTAIRS OFFICE – DAY
Annie is working away at her stander desk when her FaceTime
pings. Looking at the clock, she does some mental
calculations.
ANNIE
Was I supposed to be speaking with
Mr Pete now? It seems… Timing is
off.
The FaceTime pinging stops and after a brief break, starts up
again.
ANNIE (CONT’D)
Persistent. Definitely not a pocket
dial. I’ll check.
Annie answers and is met by a drawing, not someone on camera.
ANNIE (CONT’D)
Huh…? TopCat? AKA TC… ? What
the…?
TOPCAT-PEG
Sorry for the interrupt. TC’s busy.
The job is going well and all. Had
to do something different. Watching
him work is…
ANNIE
Oh? Peg? It’s YOU! Wow! We finally
get to chat. A lot I’ve heard about
you and all. It’s a pleasure…
TOPCAT-PEG
The pleasure is all mine. And I
wanted to check in because…
ANNIE
Something’s up with TC?
TOPCAT-PEG
Well… yes… and… also… I
heard that he shares a birthday
with your cousin-in-law.
ANNIE
That’s true. I have many Tauruses
in my life…
My cousin-in-law, an amazing lady
is now hanging out in my kitchen.
She passed in early December.
TOPCAT-PEG
Oh… I think I heard about that.
Sorry for…
ANNIE
Don’t be sorry. We had an amazing
run — most folks don’t do as much
as she did and influence the people
she did all the way into their mid-
90s.
TOPCAT-PEG
Really? Wow! I’d love to hear more
about Cousin…
ANNIE
Cousin Dolores? Sure. When we had
her party, folks were sharing
stories and asking interesting
questions. Maybe you and TC would
benefit from hearing about how she
accepted and adapted to Keep On
Keepin’ On…KOKO.
TOPCAT-PEG
Lay it on me…
ANNIE
Cool. Here goes… Let’s call this
the napkin edition.
Keepin’ Busy. Havin’ Fun!
Annie pulls out the first napkin and shows Peg.
ANNIE (CONT’D)
She may have been in her 90s, but
that didn’t really slow her down.
Her social calendar was… pretty
full actually.
TOPCAT-PEG
Weekly hair?
ANNIE
That generation… I think they
call it a “set.” Every Tuesday.
And the coolest thing is that she’d
show up in the afternoon for
exercise all styled… Lookin’
great!
TOPCAT-PEG
Nice! (pause) Art class?
ANNIE
Actually, it was a lab where you
could go and work on projects for a
block of time every week. 1pm on
Wednesdays. The artists supported
each other’s efforts. She would use
her little cane and scurry around
the room asking questions about the
various works in progress.
TOPCAT-PEG
Very interactive!
ANNIE
And get this… The walk from the
front door to the classroom was a
haul… pretty far. Then she’d
interact with folks, walk back to
the car and THEN… As me to take
her to Safeway or Lunardi’s to
shop.
TOPCAT-PEG
She got her steps in!
ANNIE
Yeah, but after a while, I moved
the shopping to an “off” day so she
wouldn’t get so tired. I honestly
believe she crammed the activities
in as NOT to impose on me … my
time.
TOPCAT-PEG
There you go… Thoughtful lady for
sure.
ANNIE
She was always chasing me down to
hand me “Uber money” before I went
home too.
Social Engagements…
Annie shows Peg another napkin.
TOPCAT-PEG
Social Events?
ANNIE
Very active with the PG&E Retirees.
In fact, she was on the board and,
for their monthly luncheons, she’d
go early and host the table where
people signed in and got name tags.
TOPCAT-PEG
Really… into her 90s?
ANNIE
Yup. Right up until she fell last
March.
TOPCAT-PEG
Wow! And the Civic Arts thing?
ANNIE
They usually had speakers on all
kinds of topics. She made sure she
showed up with cookies to share.
Signed up and delivered.
TOPCAT-PEG
Store bought?
ANNIE
Hell no! She baked!!
TOPCAT-PEG
O-M-G! I love this woman!!
Another Set of Hands…
Another napkin is shown.
ANNIE
Sometimes the timing worked and the
cookie baking cleanup coincided
with the arrival of her cleaning
lady — twice a month on Wednesdays
she’d dial in Dolores’ place.
TOPCAT-PEG
Ah… so in between she can just
maintain her place… keep it tidy.
ANNIE
“Exactamundo”!
What’s Cookin’ ?
Yet another napkin is displayed.
TOPCAT-PEG
More?!
ANNIE
She actually had free time on
Thursdays and Saturday through
Monday, so she’d go into her
kitchen, wash up all the veggies —
super thoroughly and work on
whatever dish she wanted to have
for several meals — cook once and
eat three times.
TOPCAT-PEG
Wow and wow!! I’m getting tired
thinking about all this. Feelin’
the need to kickback.
Time to Kickback…
Annie then unveils the last napkin.
ANNIE
Yeah… She’d get tired too. Paced
herself and had a super nice,
petite size recliner to do her own
kicking back in. Most of the time
she’d be dialed into the Fox when
I’d get there, but she had other
shows too.
TOPCAT-PEG
I see.
ANNIE
Blue Bloods was appointment TV. You
know, that show was slotted at 10pm
on Friday nights. I can’t even stay
up that late… but she did. Just
in case, I programmed the DVR so
she could watch or rewatch over the
weekend.
TOPCAT-PEG
She really had the whole living
independently thing wired.
ANNIE
Yup! Well into her 90s. There’s so
much more, but…
TOPCAT-PEG
Got it…
ANNIE
She adapted well and continuously.
Was a true pleasure to work with
and support.
TOPCAT-PEG
No doubt!
A distant sound can be heard from Peg’s end.
TOPCAT-PEG (CONT’D)
Ah… Boss is ready. Gotta get back
to work. Thanks for sharing your
napkins.
ANNIE
My pleasure. Take care!
TOPCAT-PEG
Will do!!
FADE OUT.
Truly… That’s a Wrap…
Thanks for reading!
-Annie (and The Gang)
–30–
[…] got its start when formulating an answer to the “What made Dolores so…? question (see previous post). Something we know here at Jedemi is that the influence of a vital person… vitalizes. She […]