Seniors, Or My Love Affair With The Elderly

But old people just grow lonesome,
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"
- Joan Baez, Hello In There


Elderly, Seniors, Senior Citizen, Old Lady, Old Man, Old Biddy, Geezer, Codger. There are many names for the Seniors in our society. I love them, even when they are kind of crotchety. They've lived a long time, sometimes they had very hard lives. A crotchety old person is easier to take than a crotchety young person.

I haven't always had this tenderness for the Elderly. There was a time in my youth when the elderly were just creepy old people who smelled funny.

Then my grandparents turned in to little old people. Then they went into a nursing home with rooms full of little old people who were all alone. It touched me, these people whose families treated them like creepy old people to be forgotten because they were out of sight. My love affair with seniors started then.

Then my mother was becoming a little old woman. She was frail. She refused to use her walker or be in a wheelchair, but conceded to riding in the electric cart at the store. She stopped driving years ago because her reflexes were to slow and her eyesight wasn't so good. Before she passed last year I spent as much time as I could with her, her arm in mine, as we walked from the car to the store where she would get on her "scooter" and make her way through the store.

I will offer to help a little old woman or man into the store or out of the store and always offer to push their cart for them. I hoped someone would do it for my mom, even though my dad was always with her. I am forever offering to help seniors get something off the shelf, especially if it is something heavy, like a bag of sugar. Five pounds is pretty heavy for some of those frail people

My dad is going to be 82 this year. He qualifies as a senior citizen because of his age alone. You would have guessed him to be at least 10 years younger a year ago. He has aged considerably after losing his companion of 61 years. A year ago he had a smattering of grey in his full head of black hair. Now he has a smattering of black in his grey hair. I live in Montana, he lives in Minnesota so I only get to see him a few times a year. The transformation from strong older man to an elderly man has been swift and dramatic...I hope someone will offer to help him when he reaches that stage of his life.

There is a young couple living across the street form my dad. The young man lost his father two days after my mother passed. This sweet couple have taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on him. They check on my dad at least every other day. I am so grateful that they have tender feelings for the elderly of the world too.

I believe most people who are uncomfortable with the senior citizens of the world, are afraid of them. Afraid of what they represent. They reveal our future, our own mortality.

I love to talk with seniors. To listen to their stories. The ones they tell over and over again. Those are the important memories they have from a lifetime of living. There is so much wisdom to be gained from a person who has lived so long. Some of these people knew iceboxes, wood cookstoves and wagons then watched as the world developed jet planes, computers and cell phones. How can you not drink up the stories from those days, a life we have never experienced. We should learn from the minds that hold all that experience and wisdom. Those whose memories may be fading a little every day. The memories, stories and wisdom will be lost forever. They know what is happening, they may fear it too.

Be kind to these little, frail people that are such a blessing to our society. You may be the only person that spoke to them that day...


Do you say hello to the Seniors of society?