I Believe in Science

My 98-year-old mother wrote this. She has experienced a lot.

(Originally published in The Village Sun)

Recently I woke up to see on a family thread a prose poem written by my 98-year-old mother. She lives alone in a small home in Florida. I was familiar with what she was going through and suspected what triggered her to put this out to her loved ones. I was so moved by her words that I wanted to share them with you.

***

BY MILDRED KIRSCHENBAUM |

The last three weeks were a mess for me. I did not have a landline, which affected my alarm system, my alert system and my security camera system. It was like dominoes. Everything went down, though now they put most of it together. They have one more little piece to fix, which I’m waiting for.

I have been thinking about my life.

I believe in science.

It changed my life.

I wrote with a pen and ink always having ink all over me. And then came the ballpoint pen. What a pleasure.

As an adult, I had a washing machine, dryer, dishwasher and all the electric appliances from mixers to grinders.

I believe in science.

When my children were very young, we worried about polio. When the neighbor’s…