Ran into Franny Ward down to the A&P the other day. She was standing in the express lane looking happy as a clam. I was about to go on break anyway, so I shut of my register light and went over to say hi.
Along with me and a handful of others, Franny is one of the Saturday morning regulars with Patsy down to Hair Affair. It’s always the same bunch of women, reading the same magazines, under the same hairdryers, dishing about celebrities and locals alike. We are equal opportunity gossipers. Did you see that movie “Steel Magnolias?” It’s kind of like that, only with snow or black flies. I call us the Sturdy Pinecones. 
“Hey there, Franny. Aren’t you looking cute.” Franny just turned eighty and is always dressed to the nines. She was rocking hot pink capris, a matching flowered top, pink polka dot espadrilles, and a pink striped bandana. Somehow, it all worked together. Franny was mixing and matching prints since before I was born. Well, she’s a life long quilter, so she comes by it natural. “Pink is such a pretty color on you!”
“Thanks, Ida. You’re looking pretty spiffy yourself.”
“Well, as my mother used to say, “Look good. Smell good. Feel good.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
“How are you and Buzz settling into Mahoosuc Green?” That’s our senior living facility in town.
“Oh, Ida. We’re just loving it. See your dad at dinner every night.”
“Those widows still buzzing around him?”
“Like flies to honey.”
“He is in a sellers market, that’s for sure. Says he carries the cane for self defense.”
“Caught a couple of them giving Buzz the eye. I’m thinking, you just try it missy, and I’ll make your walker disappear so fast, your head will spin, you’ll fall down, and break a hip.”
“Well, he’s still a good looking guy. Does he miss puttering around in the yard?”
“No, I don’t think he does. But when we first moved in, I gotta tell you, I missed him puttering around in the yard. He was underfoot all day. Finally, I told him he needed to get a hobby or join a group or two. Now, he’s playing cribbage with your dad and a couple of other guys, and he volunteers driving some of the older folks to doctors appointments and the like.”
“Good for him. How about you?”
“Gosh, I’m so busy, Ida, what with knitting club, book club, flower arranging, concerts. I even have a gal come in to clean and change the sheets. She doesn’t do it good like I used do it, but, you know, I’m just going with it.”
“Franny, I confess, I’m a little jealous.”
“Do you know what my favorite part is, Ida? Not having to cook dinner every night. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked cooking. But after sixty years of it, night after night, I’m over it. Now when Buzz asks, ‘What’s for supper?’ I say, ‘Let’s see.’ And I get out the weekly menu and read off our three options. It’s like a dream come true!”
“Stop. Stop. You’re killing me.”
“Oh, we still do breakfast and lunch in our apartment most days, if I’m not going on an outing with my adventure group at The Green. That’s what we call it, “The Green.” Last week, we went to a quilt exhibit in Bangor, and then for high tea at a new place that just opened.”
“You’re livin’ the dream, Franny.”
“That I am. Oh, gotta go. I have flower arranging at 2:00. See you Saturday, Ida.”
“You bet.” And off Franny went with her little bag of groceries and her big new life.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA’S PODCAST: Franny’s Big New Life
Coming Up This Week
July 15: The Best of Ida, Fundraiser for the Moose River Valley Historical Society, https://www.sites.google.com/site/jackmanmooserivermuseum/
7:00pm, Jackman, ME
Upcoming Shows and Book Events: Summer
July 18: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Rangeley Public Library, http://rangeleylibrary.org/ 6:00pm, Rangeley, ME
August 5: Ida’s Havin’ a Yard Sale!, Deertrees Theatre, http://www.deertrees-theatre.org/ 7:30pm, Harrison, ME
Ida has a new show!
September 8 & 9: Makin’ Whoopie, ACT ONE Beyond Festival, http://actonenh.org/ Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday at 2:00pm & 7:30pm, Portsmouth, NH
September 15 & 16: Makin’ Whoopie, ACT ONE Beyond Festival, http://actonenh.org/ Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday at 2:00pm, Portsmouth, NH