Saturday, September 12, 2009

THE GIFT OF GETTING OLDER


For some reason the ritual of the ancient eskimos keeps coming to mind these past few days. They used to put their "aged" on a slab of ice and float them out to sea, never to be seen again.



I am not much of a political person but the new ideas are scaring me because it will come down to this: if you are a 70 year old in need of a hip replacement, the new medicare may not want to pay for it because they won't want to spend the money on you because you are too old.

Everything that we have accomplished in our lifetime will come down to a decision made by our government as to whether we can continue our lives with dignity or not. Frightening.

When I was a youngster, and I keep going back to that these days, I was taught respect for elders. I spent a lot of time with my grandma and my great-great aunt Ida. She lived alone in the Bronx, never marrying but I loved to sit at her kitchen table and listen to her stories and eat her delicious food. When my mom said that we were going to visit an older relative, I was always excited.

It seems that in today's world, that privilege is gone and will be permanently gone if we are placed on a piece of ice and sent out to sea.

3 comments:

Christie Cottage said...

Well, I don't want to be placed on a slab of ice either!

I spent a lot of time even as a teenager with my grat-grandmother. She was hilarious! I laughed all the time with her. My mother could never understand it. She asked why do you like to go there? LOL Because we had fun together. Some days we would sit on the porch for hours in the remote area. Every car/truck/tractor that went by we waved. Nevermind if she knew them or not. It is what you did.

We went to visit my great-grandma on a Saturday. She was lying in the bed during the day. This was only the 2nd time I had ever witnessed this. The first time she was in the hospital.

I went in and sat with her. She said she wanted to tell me she was leaving. Her house was in order.

I told her I didn't want her to "go". She said I know that you don't and that is why I am telling you.

I told my mom when we left that great-grandma was dying. She said "Old people say that all the time." I said, "No. She is. She's ready to go." On Wednesday the phone call came. I miss her still today.

I know that in her later years the fact that her 17 year old great-granddaughter came to spend weekends with her, let her know how much she was loved.

Honor your elders!

HaloHatz said...

Our elders have so much to teach us. It is sad the lack of respect that this world shows to those who are up in years. I pray God intervenes soon.

Anonymous said...

You're right Sue. The Bible tells us that with age comes wisdom. We could learn so much from the experience of our "aged". We should lift them up and be proud of our heritage.