Mr. Ed: A Role Model for Optimism

I'll never forget a 92-year-old man who resided in the assisted living facility where my mother lived during her last years with Alzheimer's Disease. Mr. Ed couldn't walk, and he reportedly had numerous health problems.  But every day he scooted around that that place in his wheelchair.  Though his hands were too weak and knarled to use them to roll the wheels, he took tiny little shuffling "steps" with the twisted little feet that touched the ground in front of the chair.

You didn't have to look for him.  You could hear him. You knew he was making his way down the hall to the atrium when you heard the whistle - the melodious, cheery whistle that announced his approach and arrival. Always the whistle.

One day as he sat by us in the atrium, I asked him, "Mr. Ed, why are you always whistling?"

Without hesitation, he said in his shaky little voice, "Because, darlin', a whistle's what I've got left in me!"

Mr. Ed remained positive and optimistic - despite having lost his health, his independent living, and many of the other trappings which we assume produce happiness.  As he aged, he simply became more of who he was. 

I want to be like Mr. Ed when I grow up!

Dr. Bev, Author of "This Wasn't Supposed to Happen to Me"