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100 Candles


 I'm sitting in a sunny room with my mother-in-law on the eve of her 100th birthday.  Everyone is either gone or busy, as we two converse in between snippets of her favorite TV show: Call The Midwife.

She has poor vision and hearing, but never misses this program.  In fact, she often watches the re-runs because she can't remember having seen them earlier.  



I notice how alert she sits when watching the large-screen High-def TV.

Another baby is successfully born on the screen. 

I wonder what goes through the mind of a Centenarian watching a birth?

Her husband, Don is gone 18 years now.

He was an ob-gyn.

"What do you think Don would have thought of this program," I ask.

"Oh, he would have loved it, especially because they deal with so many important issues," she replies.

Tomorrow she will wear a tiara and a sash that says "Today is my Hundredth Birthday."

Her children and their children, and their children will all make appearances in the next few days.

And still,  when I see her for the first time in a few months,

she greets me with,

"Why am I still here?"






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