Warning: Aging Female Up Ahead

Granny here, Life is good, don't get me wrong, that is if you have the fortitude of a bulldozer and the attitude of a saint! But life can get harrowing at times when our strength gets weak and we let our guard down which we all do. But when you're getting on in years it happens a little more often than usual and then you find yourself feeling as if you were ungrateful for all the years the good Lord has blessed you with which isn't the case at all and I am thankful that He understands that. Getting old is no fun let me tell you right off the bat. It is a challenge that you face everyday when your eyes open and you want everyone around you to understand that but they don't not at least until they hit age 60 or 65 then it begins to dawn on them that yep it's just like they said. But the problem here is that very little is said about all the "problems" the elderly face as time marches on for them. The elderly (80 and up depending on health) have a way of camouflaging what is really going on in their world because the last thing they want to give up is their dignity and self respect and they feel that every time they let go of something they have fallen a little further behind. I'm not to the place that people call me elderly but I am far enough along to call me aged. I have a few years on me and that's why I know what a battle is lerking up ahead. Also I have an excellent teacher in the house with me, my 94 year old mother. She's a jewel and a very good teacher, if I can just grasp some of the fortitude that she posesses I will be well on my way to success with this old age thing. She is a trooper in every sense of the word, still trying to do all that she can for herself and is always looking for more to do. One of the greatest battles in aging is the rejection that the aged feel because youth and old people don't usually mix too well, one is full of energy and stamina thinking they know it all and the other has lost their energy and stamina and have experienced enough to know that they don't know it all but would like to share what they do know. The young seem to fear the elderly and I can understand that on one hand because when you are around the elderly you are around someone that more than likely could use your help and that puts the young in a position that most don't relish too much. No one wants to feel as if they are being used all the time and this is understood but on the other side of this aging thing is "that where you are they once were and were they are you will one day be." It's true that the older folks need more help than the younger and they hate to ask for it as much as the younger hate being bothered all the time. There could be no greater blessing for an older person than to be able to take care of themselves until the good Lord calls them out of this life. If they could have any one thing it would be good enough health to provide for themselves until it was all over but that's just not the way it is. Like it or lump it the elderly will always need the assistance of the younger. I have looked after my mother more or less most of her life, we have always been good friends, doing everything together and she has become very dependent on me through the years for those reasons. It's not that she doesn't have other children matter of fact she has 5 besides myself that would take as good a care of her as I do or maybe better but she is just so attached to me that she is more comfortable and secure living with me I guess. She teaches me something new almost everyday and she inspires me and others around her more than she will ever know. I have a daughter of my own and I keep warning her of the challenge she is facing in the future when I get to the place that my mother is if God so grants it. I can only hope and pray that we get along as good as my mother and I do. That is not to say that we don't have our moments because we do but they are few and far between. Of course my daughter is not me and I am not my mother so that is another story altogether so I'm sure it will be different for the two of us but I hope pleasant just the same. Oh, if we could only understand the plight of the elderly and find a little something that we would be willing to give them that would make their lives a little brighter, a little less lonely that would give them the feeling of worth that they loose as they age. Feeling worthless is an awful truth that goes along with the aging process, the older they get and the less they are able to do for themselves the more worthless they feel and after years of working for the family, caring for the children and being the rock of the home it is hard to give up their pride and admit they can't do it anymore no matter how badly they want to. That really hurts. You may say there is little I can do but it's only a little that they're asking, a half and hour visit, a hamburger from McDonald's, a five minute phone call, a card in the mail, a little gift on the holidays. These things are momumental in the life of the elderly, they have so little left that anything that is given to them is appreciated beyond words. Never feel that you don't have the time to do one gesture of kindness to someone who is aging in your family or in the family of your friends. The aging understand that the younger folks are busy living life to the fullest, busy getting and doing but don't get so busy that you don't have a moment to share with someone who has lived a long life and is waiting for that final breath to come when just one moment from you will add joy that you won't understand until it is your turn and believe me we all get our turn. Think about it the next time you meet someone with a few years on them, conversation is the best gift, so don't be afraid to share with one of them. They have a lot to say and you'll be glad that you listened. Granny here, just saying!