Growing old is not a small or simple thing. It affects everything around us, on us and in us. It's a hard thing, this growing old, this gradual depletion of our beauty, our physical strength and often our mental sharpness. It's not for the weak or cowardly. It's a soul aching thing, saying goodbye to old friends as they leave for another life somewhere we can't go with them. But with the challenges and losses comes wisdom, compassion and serenity; or at least these things should manifest in elders. That's why the leaders of indigenous people were usually old and wise.
There was a time that elders were appreciated, valued for their experience and wisdom. They were revered, just because they were the progenitors of a family. Most of the old would pass away in their home, surrounded by children and grandchildren. Those days have faded and a new social system has come into being. Put the elders away somewhere you don't have to watch them deteriorate or do anything to care for them. Be more concerned about your “inheritance” than you are about the welfare of your parents or grandparents. Let strangers take care of their needs. Let strangers hold their hand as they die, or just let them die alone. I once heard a high ranking politician, she herself very old, say of the elderly that are not wealthy like her, “These people are leeches and a burden on society.”
Maybe that's why COVID cases were sent into the nursing homes, resulting in thousands of deaths of the elderly population living there. Was it simply ignorance? I don't think so, it was a convenient way to get rid of a lot of human burdens at one time.
There was a time in the not so distant past, that younger generations wanted to hear about the lives of their elder family members; how they lived, what they did, who they loved and how history unfolded around them. Not anymore, or at least not in my family. I have never been asked a question about my life, my parents' and grandparents' lives. Without that how do you get a sense of where you came from and who you are? None of my grandchildren even know who my grandparents were or anything about them. I think that is a sad commentary on the times, when money and property mean more than family history.
I spent hours and weeks researching and creating a massive family tree on Ancestry. Com. I did if for my children and their children. Thousands of ancestors representing both sides of their lineage are there. I told them it was there should they ever want to know where they came from. As far as I know none of them have ever looked at it. Such a loss when we discount the past and the people who lived it as unimportant or irrelative to our lives.
Just remember, if you aren't old yet, someday if you don't die first, you will be old. Show some love and respect to those who brought you into being, whose DNA you share. Those who, if they had not lived, neither would you. Cherish the elderly, they are a living treasure.
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