Old Age

When I started this blog I named it “The Best is Yet To Be” because I wanted to see if old age really would prove to be the best part of my life. So far the adage is holding true for me. In spite of aches and pains that make me grumble, my beloved and I are both healthy and able to do the things we love. Life is good.

I have spent time with several friends this week who are a little older than me. Their life is not good right now because the problems of old age have caught up with them. As the body wears out life can become very difficult. One dear friend has recently had to give up driving. Her body has become frail with chronic health issues and life is hard. I did a little grocery shopping and a few household chores she is no longer able to do. She needs help that she cannot afford and resents needing. Another of her dear relatives died this week. She grieves alone because she has outlived so many family members. This is not the best part of her life.

I took lunch to an older couple I know. They are sweet people with a bright outlook on life, but they have become frail. They need to move to a place where they can have more help and not be alone. They don't want to move. They don't want to give up driving. They want to be able to do what they have always done, but it is no longer safe. Their children worry about them, but they refuse to move just yet. This is not the best part of their life.

Another dear soul fell this week. When they took this ninety year old man to the hospital it was discovered that he has pneumonia and is quite sick. He has some dementia and is confused and afraid. His wife of many years sits with him all day to keep him calm, but she is also ninety and is completely worn out. This is not the best part of their life.

The list goes on, but you get the idea. Old age can really be awful. It is lonely,undignified and depressing. My beloved and I will be old like these dear friends one day not too far away. We have made plans and prepared for that time, but it is not a time I look forward to.

The top picture is of my sweet grandparents shortly before they became really old. They had lived a long and happy life. Don't they look happy?
Shortly after that picture granddaddy became blind. The picture below is of him and my grandmother in their backyard, “walking the line.” My uncles stretched a clothesline across the yard so he could have a guide to walk safely around the yard. He was able to stay home until my grandmother's death. He spent his last years in a nursing home. It was not the best part of his life.

The last picture shows me with my mom and dad and brothers the day before we moved dad to the nursing home. He spent four years there before he died. Those were very hard years. It was not the best part of our life.

Have you made plans for the days when you become really old?