CELEBRATING LIFE!

 

By Roxanne Brancker

 

At 91 Marjorie Violet Saunders rises at 5 a.m. and lives each day with such exuberance that she does not see sleep again until 10 p.m.

If that stops you dead in your tracks, what’s your reaction to the information that just a year ago, Marjorie was bedridden, wheelchair bound and using an ambulance to get around.

Did you say she should write her story? Well she’s doing that.

“It’s an auto-biography  - I am writing it for all my family. I am the oldest living in the family and many of the young ones don't know their family history, so this book with help them understand their roots”.

It’s inconceivable that her book would not contain something about how she divorced her wheelchair.

Not so long ago, this smiling bundle of graceful energy could hardly move. She could not walk and when her husband of 56 years, Methodist minister, Rev Philip Saunders died in a bedroom next to hers, she could not get up on her own to see him.

To attend his funeral, she had to be lifted down the stairs into the car.

Her transformation has been nothing short of miraculous.

 

She cheerfully recalls: “When I came here about a year ago to the Rendezvous Retreat, they had to bathe me and dress me….I couldn’t walk, I was in my wheelchair……so much pain. But I needed to stop distressing my stomach with all those pain killers…… I was going to therapy”, and when the therapist suggested exercise.  Marjorie did not hesitate.

“It’s important to rise early”, she says. ”That way you get a good start to the day.”

 She does her exercises – stretches, sit ups and leg raises.

Then its time for her morning devotions and meditation followed by breakfast and she’s ready for the day.

Marjorie swims at least three times a week, either in the swimming pool at the Rendezvous Nursing home which is now her home, or on Brown’s Beach, accompanied by her daughter Alison and grandson Dominic.

“I used to love swimming when I was younger. I started swimming when I was four years old. My dad taught me and I joined a club and swam throughout my life whenever I could, even going to Brown’s Beach six days a week, well into 80s. When my arthritis got worse, I could not get down the stairs to go to the beach. In 2014 the doctors told me the only thing that would take the pain away was exercise,  so I decided to ‘take the plunge’.

 

Marjorie swims at least three times a week in the swimming pool at the Rendezvous Retreat where she is very comfortable. The swimming pool there allows her to swim regularly and she is also now strong enough to go to her beloved Brown’s Beach with her daughter Alison, grandson Dominic and friends.

Her swimming drowns the arthritis.  The pain only returns when she misses any of her swimming days. She thanks the family, friends and nurses who perform the duties of lifeguard as required by the Rendezvous Retreat for her swimming.

“Once I get up I don't rest. I don't sleep in the day…..once I finish my swim - some days five laps, some days as many as ten -  I sit a little to rest off. Then I read.”

 She is a voracious reader and gets through about four books a month. When she isn’t reading she’s writing her book.

Before retiring to sleep she takes in some of her favorite TV shows which include America’s Got Talent and Dr. Oz.

To others in her age group and even younger she has this advice:

“Enjoy your life to the fullest – there is so much to enjoy. Celebrate life.”

“Your faith keeps your life together. Once you have that faith, you can battle any thing.  Get rid of resentment. With forgiveness and love you can ace anything.”

“I am still enjoying my life,” she affirms. “I don't dwell on the past and the pain. Think positively and enjoy what you have.”

Marjorie occasionally attends church, but participates in daily devotions at the Rendezvous Retreat that she often leads with one of the nurses, Pat Lowe.

She gets great satisfaction from preparing and sharing spiritual reflections with her fellow residents.

She receives Communion at home once a month when her minister visits.

“I am so thankful…especially for my children, Alison and Angela and my grandchildren, Dominic, Ryan and Maya”.

“Because of the world we live in, I pray for them all the time and I also pray for the rest of my family and friends.

“I tell my friends, especially those my age, don't get up late….get up early and start the day with exercise.

“Love life. Live life - I love it. I live it!”