This month is Older Americans Month as President Obama has declared. Older people have a special place in my heart. They are wise, been around the block many times, suffered and have paid their dues! I am constantly humbled by the work that I do with the elderly. Men and women who have sustained strokes, mental illness and diseases like Altzheimer’s, yet still have the courage to live each day gracefully with their challenges.
While our society prizes youth – I prize aging! We are all aging, whether we like to believe so or not. It is how we perceive aging that matters. I have seen young people who seem so old, worn down by life. I have seen older people, who have the zest, spunk and spark of youth. We have much to learn from our elders.
Every week that passes I learn from those that I have the honor to teach. This week I learned that one of the residents at a facility in which I teach had “lost her life.” She spoke of her struggle poignantly. “I don’t know how I got here. I do know that there is a gap between what happened then and me being here now. My family won’t tell me the details.” I said, “That must be so painful for you – to have a break – a gap and not know why and how you lost your life.”
All I could do was sit with her and bear witness to her pain. Please spend some time with elders. My mother has been dead for 20 years. She died at the young age of 59. I miss her. Our elders have so much to teach us given the opportunity.
