Dear Sweet Nan

Nan Carmichael’s day begins with tending her flowering plants. Then she goes to the gym for her daily workout. Her work as a docent in Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts keeps her busy till the evening, after which she catches a movie with friends, or goes out for dinner. She also stays back and relaxes sometimes by watching television or reading.

She loves driving fast. She loves playing practical jokes on friends. Once she and I went out on a rainy morning when Tempe streets were waterlogged (the drainage system here sucks). I was telling her how in India the sidewalks would be full of pedestrians and how they’d all swear at the passing vehicles when splashed with muddy water. At which she points out to the two lone pedestrians and grins, “there! Shall we ’splash’ them and see what happens?”…..

She loves traveling to exotic countries. Her eyes twinkle as she says, a cigarette dangling from her crimson nails, “I will marry when I find the right man!”

Nan Carmichael is 75 years old. She’s my friend. She’s always there for me, offering support, love, encouragement. She’s got the perfect peach-n-cream complexion and her eye make-up is always perfect. She makes the best pumpkin pies in the world. Looking at Nan, I always think that my soon to be expiring twenty-something status isn’t such a bad thing after all.

~ by feistyfeline on November 19, 2006.