I recently spent an evening with a group of elderly people.
As I looked around and chatted with them, it struck me that this group of people might be leaving us soon.
All the knowledge and skills they have are going to die along with them.
If I could, I would visit every single one and write a story about their lives.
The oldest person I talked to was 95 years old.
Do you know how much the world has changed in 95 years?
Certainly, more than you and I can ever imagine.
This struck me when I was telling her about my tablet and she thought I was talking about a pill the entire time.
To me, if you’re talking about a tablet, the first thing that comes to mind is my device.
By the way, if you’re wondering, the secret to her longevity is playing Scrabble.
She rightfully boasted that she doesn’t need a calculator to do her numbers, she just crunches them in her head.
I would love to be able to do that.
I’m a child of the calculator.
The only thing that makes me passably good at Scrabble is that I had a good English teacher and I love reading.
This evening made me feel a little guilty for getting tired of my own granny and the things she does when I’m at home.
She will wake me up and ask: “Why are you still sleeping when the sun is out?”
The sun doesn’t mean anything to me, I will sleep for as long as I possibly can.
But then I remember that she belongs to the generation that didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in.
This was the generation that pulled their socks up and got on with it.
There was no whining and going to the doctor for every little thing.
They knew all the herbs and went outside, picked it, made it into whatever they needed, ingested it and then went to work.
We should be asking them all these questions about life and love and family history, but we don’t do it.
We’re forever glued to our devices or we’re just never around them long enough for them to share those little nuggets of wisdom.
One of the ladies said to me: “We used to check in the paper who has gotten married or who has given birth but now we check who has died.”
I felt my soul die a little bit when she said that.
I can’t imagine all my friends leaving me behind.
My own gran told me she is starting to forget what her mother’s face looked like.
We cannot comprehend the pain and discomfort that our elderly citizens live with, but there are things we can do to make their last few years better.
An afternoon spent in their company will do you a world of good.
A class where they teach you one of their skills might just become your new hobby.
A day of pampering and making them feel young again will become a sweet memory to remember them by when they are gone.
The fact is, we will never have enough time but we can at least try.
