Title: Study of a Woman Sewing
Creator: Robert Polhill Bevan, 1865–1925
My Nan used to tell me that when you got old, your bones creaked and groaned like the floors in an old house.
She said that you always felt cold when you got really old,and you could tell it was going to rain because your toes and fingers would tingle, ” remember that time you plugged in the tv and got that shock? ” she reminded me. “That’s what it feels like. ”
And then she said firmly through gritted teeth that when you got really, really old you died.
We had these conversations when she was sewing or crocheting in her sewing room.
My Nan used to crochete me a vest and a blanket for my birthday every year.
Halloween was my favorite holiday, so in the little squares she created were spooky faces or sometimes pumpkins and trees or ghosts with little pearl button eyes.
One day, as she was busy making me another blanket for my bed, I asked her ” Nan, does anyone ever die when they’re not really, really old? ”
I was standing next to a shelf full of Halloween blankets that were never unfolded and laid on a bed and vests of various sizes that were never worn and she didn’t look up at me when she said,
” Yes. ” she said. ” Sometimes.”
Inspried by Writober Picture Prompt #2
