Tuesdays with Mrs. Ruth

Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by annie in Notebook

So I have this awesome neighbor Mrs. Ruth. She’s 85 years old. These days we’re pretty much on the same schedule and are usually hanging around our condos during the week while people with real jobs are at work. Mostly we just hang out at her place with some hot beverages and chit chat about life.

Every time I have a chat with Mrs. Ruth, she tosses off some comment about her past that blows my mind.

Thought I’d share a few these with you…

Mrs. Ruth on technology:

“I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard a radio. We had a battery-operated radio in our house before we had electricity in our house.”

“Cars were not commonplace back then. If you heard a car coming down the road, all the kids ran out of their houses to see who it was. And if you heard an airplane, well, everyone ran out of the house and watched it fly all the way across the horizon until it was out of sight.”

Mrs. Ruth at a condo association meeting when someone proposed we do away with paper notices and move everything over to online communication:

“Now see here! I’ve gotten along just fine for 85 years without that internet business and I’m not gonna start fooling around with it now!”

Mrs. Ruth also often tries to propose issues to be voted on in these meetings like letting everyone paint their front door a different color.

“I certainly think it’d be a bit more cheerful around here if everyone’s door wasn’t brown. How about we choose between 4 different colors? I like red. Can we vote on that?”

Mrs. Ruth on childbirth:

“My granddaughter just had her first baby and I reckon there were about 10 people in that delivery room. Parents, friends, goodness it was crowded. When I had my son it was just me and the doctor. I wouldn’t have wanted people to see me in that state. My husband waited in the lobby. In fact, my labor went on for so long that the doctor went out to the lobby and said “Mr. Ford, I reckon you should go down to the movie theater. This is gonna be a while.”

Mrs. Ruth grew up on a farm and continues to grow vegetables on her back patio. One day I noticed a beautiful black iron cauldron in which she was growing some cabbage. I wanted one for my patio and asked her where she got hers.

“Oh that? That’s the pot that my mother use to boil water in for the laundry. She did all of our laundry in that pot. And you never did see whiter whites than what she pulled out of that pot.”

CIMG0060

Mind blown.

I think it’s a shame how much we take for granted these days. You’d certainly appreciate a clean shirt a heck of a lot more if you had to boil it in a pot outside in the freezing cold. And what am I gonna do with my old washing machine? Probably not plant cabbage in it. Every time I chat with Mrs. Ruth I’m shocked to realize how quickly things have changed. What will I tell my neighbors when I’m 85? That I remember when you actually had to use your hands to play video games instead of manipulating them telepathically with the chip implanted in your head?

Terrifying.

I’m just blessed to have some time to be reminded about the way things were from Mrs. Ruth…

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18 Responses to “Tuesdays with Mrs. Ruth”

Natalie

09. Apr, 2010

Having Mrs. Ruth around is truly a blessing. Im 16 years old and my friends are always amazed when I prefer to hang out with the ‘ol folks’ in my family rather than going to the theater with them. Its stories like these that give me the love to sit back and chill with my family. They lived such a simplistic life that the world they are in now is just that, a different world. Thanks for posting. Mrs. Ruth sure is wise!
allan webb

12. Apr, 2010

these stories sure make me miss my grandparents…..we use to have long talks about subjects like these and i cherished them….i actually remember my grandmother saying something about the excitement of seeing a car, any car and/or airplane when growing up in the 1920’s….mrs. ruth seems like a very special person; she definitely reminds me of my late grandmother……
Alisha

18. Apr, 2010

I am just getting a minute to read up on all these blogs ( school took all my free time until now when I am done with nothing to do at 2am lol )
This is my favorite blog so far, I love your relationship with Ruth we all need to have a relationship with someone from the times when. My grandpa is going to be 90 in a few weeks and I love his stories! Please tell Ruth thanks for her stories, and thanks to you Annie for loving her Also I like the painting of the doors idea
Tim

21. Apr, 2010

Annie,
That is awesome to hear, first hand, what it was like “back in the day”. When my Grandpa was still alive, he told me stories of what it was like when he was a kid growing up as a minority in a small town, Long Beach, WA. He even showed me his passport/papers of when he came from Japan when he was 2 years old. The U.S. Presidents seal and the Japanese Emperors seal on a piece of paper. A piece of history that I will keep forever.
Eliza

05. May, 2010

Last summer I asked my grandmother who is 90 what the coolest invention has been in her lifetime. She said “well I guess the best thing was when my family got running water. That was pretty cool.’ Crazy. Her and Mrs. Ruth would get along.
Elise

16. May, 2010

I love this post! When I was growing up we lived next to a very sweet older lady who let us use her backyard as half of you “soccer field.” At “halftime” she would give us fudge popsicles and tell use great stories.
Gena Miller

16. Aug, 2010

Annie,
When I was first out of college, my first apartment was with a lot of older widowed women. They took me under their wing and we were a great match. It is so wonderful to see you as a younger woman spending time with these ladies… nothing means more to them than to be able to share stories with you… Bless you… It will all come back to you in a good way someday. Gena
Kimmie

21. Aug, 2010

Wow! Annie, I think you are such a tremendous addition to Sugarland. Your vocals are amazing and you kick some major bass @$$!!! I was a fan before, but NOW, I really think you are the BOMB!! Our older generation has so much to offer us and it is great to see someone else taking that wisdom and sharing it with others!! Keep being REAL!

Love ya!