“Keep on smiling!”
Those simple words are ones Eleanor Crawford keeps in mind during difficult and good times.
“I watched my mother as she declined and she was always so pleasant to people and people responded by being pleasant to her. So, I said, if I am ever in that situation I am not going to be a bitch of a patient…I’m going to be a delight to be around. It’s easy when you don’t feel good to piss and moan.”
She had occasion to remember that pledge when she had surgery and recovered in The Commons. Needless to say, her experience there was a good one and that kind of attitude is what attracted her to move into The Fountains at Orlando Lutheran Towers in November 2011.
“It has a friendly ambience. And, the main thing is I already had friends living here,” she said. “I love it because I can do all the things I love to do. I’m in a book club that meets once a month and they (the Towers) provide transportation to Life At UCF. I’m also going to start the exercise class here. I was also last year’s Mardi Gras Queen. There is just always so much to do.”
Eleanor is a member of that rare species: a native Floridian. She was born in Ocala on April 11, 1940, one of twin girls. “We are mirror twins; I’m left and she’s right-handed. Other than that, we look very much alike. My sister’s name is Patricia and we were the “Bell Twins” at Princeton Elementary, Memorial Junior High and Edgewater High. We attended Orlando Junior College after high school and my sister stayed here while I went on to Florida State and got a degree in Library Science.”
After graduation she returned to Orlando and worked as a librarian at the downtown library for 30 years – the last seven in the genealogy department. She also married and gave birth to a daughter and son.
Her mother was secretary at Orlando’s Princeton Elementary School for almost 30 years, and her father was a parts salesman. She remembers Orlando during those years as a quiet town whose streets were almost all paved with bricks. Her junior high school was located across the street from Lake Eola, on a site later occupied by the Harley Hotel and, currently, by condos.
She identifies her biggest life challenge as the loss of her second husband. In addition to losing his companionship, she also experienced a steep learning curve learning to do the things he had formerly handled – such as their finances. But, the last few years of his life were difficult ones.
“He was ill with Lou Gehrig’s disease for four years before his death. I cared for him at home and so it was a lot of work,” she said. “But, the really sad part was I lost his companionship for years before he died.”
She has always loved to sing and is now a member of The Downtowners, composed of residents from all three of the Towers properties.
“We’ve been invited to participate in the Fringe Festival again this year, as we did last year. We’re going to be learning to sing Gangnam Style,” she chuckled. “I don’t know if we’re going to learn the moves as well. That would be funny! I used to sing alto but my voice has dropped so deep I probably sing tenor now!”
She identifies her biggest life challenge as the loss of her second husband. In addition to losing his companionship, she also experienced a steep learning curve learning to do the things he had formerly handled – such as their finances. But, the last few years of his life were difficult ones.
“He was ill with Lou Gehrig’s disease for four years before his death. I cared for him at home and so it was a lot of work,” she said. “But, the really sad part was I lost his companionship for years before he died.”
Eleanor said travel is a great love of hers and she looks forward to taking at least one big trip each year. This year she and some friends are planning a trip to California to see giant Redwoods. Her other travel so far has taken her to Israel; Turkey; Machu Picchu, Peru; and Canterbury, England, among other places, and she has also been on a Mediterranean cruise.
“In Machu Picchu I did all but the last 300 steps…which, at 14,000 feet was something. That was about six years ago,” she said.
Israel was the most memorable trip because of the connection to her Christian religious heritage, but it was also disappointing, she said.
“What stood out for me is that you couldn’t really experience walking the Stations of the Cross because there were too many people around. There was no way to spiritually experience it. There was a little of that also at Machu Picchu,” she added. “I am sensitive to the feelings of places.”
“I did feel that connection, though, at Canterbury where I went with my husband. We went on a tour and there was a chapel of St. Michael and I just felt like I had to lie down and absorb it. It was just my husband, the guide, a few people, and some sheep…so I had to watch where I lay down,” she laughed delightedly.
