QUIET

Alone at 86 in my own old house with nothing but memories.

When I come home, my local crow friends are waiting for a handout of the dry cat food I keep in the trunk of my car. I feed them. Someone is glad to see me.

I go inside the house. It’s quiet. Too quiet. I have to turn on the radio or TV. That is better.

I go into the dining room where my recorder catches any calls I may have had. A big zero shows I have not had any calls for several days.

I sit down to read a book, one I read many years ago.

Out of the quietness, my phone rings. Maybe it is a friend or my son. A pause, a tape recorder asks for a donation to a police charity or offers a special on cleaning my rugs or sometimes someone telling me who to vote for. I hang up and go back to my book.

Solitude. Bah Humbug.

Don Sivertsen, now 96, still telling stories at a writing group and for us on Sharing Stories. This piece is an excerpt of his book Laughs, Luck, & Life: From A to Z which is available through Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IFN4DD8.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

SHARING STORIES is featured on http://www.northwestprimetime.com, the website for Northwest Prime Time, a monthly publication for baby boomers, seniors, retirees, and those contemplating retirement. For more information, call 206-824-8600 or visit http://www.northwestprimetime.com. To find other SHARING STORIES articles on this website type “sharing stories” in the search function above.