Aging

Nobody wants to live forever. Or do they? We all know that sooner or later our lives on this planet will end. Later than sooner is what everyone wishes for. What is in a number? What does it mean to be 10, 20, 30, 99 etc.? How are we supposed to behave and feel like at each age? How do we know we are old; from our experiences; by looking in the mirror; when we die?

When a young person dies we always hear people saying that he had his whole life ahead of him and when an older person passes, like in his 90s, we hear people say that he had lived long enough. Guess that just the fact of dying scares people and this is the way that they want to comfort others or even comfort themselves. I believe that people who pass away are prepared for it unlike those who they leave behind.

To me what is tragic about life is the process of aging. Mind you, not for the person who is in the process, but for those watching. Take my mom for instance, it is very hard for me to see that she has been doing things that she would not normally have done when she was younger. Like, the other day she put some food to reheat in the oven. It sounds normal, right? Yes, but the problem was that she put the food in the serving bowl which was made of plastic. That turned out to be a fiasco because not only did it melt the bowl but also ruin the food. She couldn´t understand what she had done wrong and we couldn´t believe she had done that.

Another incident that took place was that we (the whole family) were all at a party and one of my sisters was going to get some cake and asked my mom if she´s like a piece. Mom kept on repeating what and we kept saying louder and louder cake. She´d say what and we´d answer cake until finally I got real close to her and asked her if she´s like a piece of cake. She said no and then said that she couldn´t see from her left eye. We laughed and rolled our eyes. What did that have to do with the scene?  I kind of felt bad afterwards because I guess she wanted to tell us about her eye but she said no to the cake and then added the eye information. But what was clear was her loss in hearing.

It is hard to see that a person who used to be very active in conversations and events is quiet due to the fact that she doesn´t know what is going on or can´t understand what is going on. Sometimes I think that she has just given up and is excluding herself from life itself. But then again, I do not accept this because she is only 70 and in my opinion still young. However, to her she is just an old lady doing overtime.

Everyone will eventually grow old; some in good health and others with difficulties. One has to learn to take advantage of each age.

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(Written June 25, 2013)
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