My Mum Is 89 Years Old: She Moved In With Me Two Years Ago and Starts Every Day at 7:30, Chats Quiet…

My mother is 89 years old. Two years ago, she moved in with me. Every morning by half past seven, I hear her waking up. She quietly chats to her elderly cat, Misty, and gives her breakfast. Then she prepares her own meal and sits out on the sunny patio with her cup of tea, waiting until she feels completely awake.

Afterwards, she grabs the mop and makes her way around the whole house (its about 240 square metres) she calls it her daily exercise. If shes in the mood, shell cook something, tidy the kitchen, or do her usual stretches.

In the afternoon, its time for her beauty ritual, which changes often. Sometimes, she starts going through her enormous wardrobe an expensive, almost museum-worthy collection of clothes. Some outfits she gifts to me, others she gives to friends, and a few she even sells like a true businesswoman. I often tease her:

Mum, if youd invested all that money, youd be living in luxury now!

She laughs and says, I love my clothes. Besides, one day, all this will be yours. Your sister, poor thing, has no taste at all.

To get out of the house, about five times a week we go for a brisk walk of three miles around the lake. Once a month, shes off for girls night with her friends. She reads a lot and is always rummaging through my library. Every day she chats on the phone to her sister, whos 91 and lives in Bath, and comes to visit us twice a year. (By the way, my aunt still works as an accountant for a private client.)

Other than Misty the cat, her favourite thing is the tablet I gave her last Christmas. She reads about her favourite authors and composers, listens to news, watches ballet, opera, and all sorts of other shows. Around midnight Ill often hear her say,

I really should get to bed, but YouTube has just started up Pavarotti for me.

She and her sister truly won the genetic lottery. Even so, Mum still complains:

I look dreadful! she says.

I try to cheer her up:

Mum, most people your age would have long crossed over to the other side.

Through it all, watching my mother’s lively daily routine reminds me that happiness is not found in what you own or how you look, but in having interests, laughter, and the people you love around you.