Life in the 2nd Century (According to Elliott Thompson)

Life in the 2^nd Century (according to Elliott Thompson)

It’s remarkable to live to the age of 100.  Elliott accomplished that feat on May 25, 2012.  But what’s even more remarkable is the manner in which he’s living in his 2^nd century.  There’s no sitting back in a rocking chair for this centenarian.  He’s as active as ever.  Here’s a sample of some of his activities since he reached the century mark exactly two weeks ago:

Entertained 200+ guests at his 3-day 100^th birthday celebration

Helped clean-up from the party by eating all the leftover birthday cake and mini Baby Ruth bars

Worked out at Lifetime Fitness

Regaled houseguests with tales of his early years

Packed up Katie’s household items

Wrapped up paintings that we sold 

Watered the flowers out in the garden

Re-arranged furniture in the house

Checked his email and Facebook accounts on a daily basis

Supervised everyone else’s activities

Today was a typically busy day.  It started with a dual-purpose field trip to the Ikea store in Woodbridge, about 20 miles from home.  First of all, we went there to purchase a desk for Katie’s new place.  Just as importantly, we went so Elliott could eat lunch at the Ikea restaurant.  He starts to salivate at the mere mention of Ikea’s Swedish meatballs with gravy and lingonberries.  It isn’t just the taste he loves, but the associations he has with this classic Scandinavian dish that his mother used to make when he was a child.  He even asked the server in the cafeteria line for an extra spoonful of gravy – because he was 100 years old!  (Yes, Elliott manages to inform everyone he meets of his special age.)   While I’m not a fan of meatballs myself (I prefer the gravad laks), I love to see Elliott eat with such gusto.  It took a while, but he ate every one of the 15 meatballs included in the $3.99 serving.  And since he was enjoying himself so much, I gave him permission to lick the remaining gravy and lingonberries from his plate. 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at Greenspring, where I took the lead in assembling the desk for my mother.  I had no problems following the instructions, and 90 minutes after I started, Katie had a lovely new desk where she can sit to do her crossword puzzles.  My civil engineer dad would have been proud of my accomplishment.  Before we left Greenspring, Elliott and I hung a few paintings, a Chinese embroidery, and a Persian mirror on the walls.  Overall, we’re quite pleased with the results.  In less than a week, we’ve managed to transform my mother’s new abode into a very attractive home.