What do you call someone who is (nearly) 90 years old? I mean, besides, "yes, ma'am" or "yes, sir"? I didn't know either so I went online. I wasn't sure how to phrase the search term so it took a few minutes of looking around on the Web. But, I found it. The answer will be at the end of the column. Now the reason I went looking for this word was because of longtime Highland resident Jennie Thompson.

She is pushing 90 and is now a two-time cancer survivor. The first bout with cancer, about 30 years ago, cost her a breast. This time, it cost her a kidney. Thompson had been feeling somewhat under the weather for a while and her daughters kept pushing her to see a specialist. Well, she finally did and tests showed that she had a tumor on one of her kidneys.

Surgery was scheduled for the morning of July 22, the week after she returned from a North Carolina beach vacation. Dr. Thomas Jarrett, a urologist at George Washington University Medical Center, performed the operation.

After the surgery, he came out to meet the family members and gave his prognosis: "It looked like the cancer was contained solely within the affected kidney. We were able to remove it successfully. Everything looks good. It doesn't appear that the cancer spread to other organs or areas but we won't know for sure until we get the lab results back."

The relief in the room was palpable. Jennie will be staying in the hospital for a few days and should be home before you all read this. By the way, the word is nonagenarian.

Speaking of vacations, we just returned from a 10-day beach vacation down in North Carolina. We have a condo down at Pine Knoll Shores. That's on the "southern Outer Banks" island of Bogue Banks.

For the first couple days, the surf was very rough due to Hurricane Bertha. But once she moved on up the coast and out to sea, the water was much nicer to be in. The weather, on the whole, was outstanding.

Besides my wife, Jennie, we had her mother, Jennie Thompson, our granddaughter, Samantha Johnston, and her friend, Samantha Hicks. Our grandson, Owen Gait, came down for a few days and is now with us in Maryland. It's always great to get away, but it's also great to come back home.

Well, that's all for this week. Look after your neighbors. Remember our troops who are serving in harm's way and their families. Commit a random act of kindness.

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