----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Sanford" <jsanford1_at_cfl.rr.com> > I am getting old. I will be 78 in August. Joe S Speaking of age, one of the highlights of my trip was the German-American woman who sat next to me on the flight over to Munich. I had my usual requested aisle seat and was sitting when the chief flight steward came up escorting an elderly woman. I helped her get into her seat, put her coat and packages in the overhead rack, etc. We started talking and wound up doing so all night long. It turns out she was 92 years old. Had left Germany in 1930 for some forgotten reason and never had returned. Her husband had died two years ago and she wanted to see her old town, Augsburg (just northeast of Munich), once more before she died. Get this. She could hear perfectly without a hearing aid, even in a noisy cabin. Her mind was clear as a bell and sharp in her observations and statements (a bit confused, though, by planes as she had never flown before; she thought that the pod at the end of the wing was another plane flying too close). Later when we arrived at Munich I bidded her "aufwiedersehen" thinking I would just rush off only to find that she was walking right alongside keeping right up with me (and I'm a fast walker!). I had earlier asked her what she thought was the secret of her long life and she responded with one word "Port!" She drinks a glass everyday and did a pretty good job on the wine and brandy Lufthansa serves. As we finally parted, she told me to say to my wife that I had been picked up on the flight by this gorgeous German woman. What a gal! ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed May 23 2001 - 13:51:42 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:43 PDT