Old age is a beautiful blessing
Old age is a stage in our existence to aspire to and to celebrate.
It's a period where we are supposed to become repositories of not just experience but also maturity and wisdom.
The elderly have witnessed and contributed to the shaping of the world. They have seen society evolve in many ways, and they are expected to impart what they have learned as a guide for the rest of us.
Japanese Jiroemon Kimura, who passed away at age 116 in 2013, once gave an interview to
reporters where he spoke of the importance of endurance and perseverance in the face of
adversity. He was quoted as saying, "After every storm, peace always comes."Everyone ages but not everyone experiences old age. From the moment we are conceived, we begin to age, yet like waves swept up in the continuous tide of life, we do not know how and when our journey will end. The elderly are like waves that come all the way to shore, running on excited legs up the sand before they are drawn back in with the tide again.
Asked to comment on her longevity, Jeralean Tally who also passed away at 116 said,
"It's all in the good Lord's hands. There's nothing I can do about it."I had an elderly neighbor once. She has passed away many years now, may her soul rest in eternal peace, yet if I close my eyes and think long enough, I can still see the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. I can see her smile. And if I listen hard enough, I'd hear her voice.
Back when I was a child, I was often impatient with our neighbor because I felt that she was so slow! My neighbor's toes were all broken and lumped together, and they were painful. She wore special shoes and needed a cane to walk and even then she always had to stop and rest after walking a few paces.
Still, despite the wincing and the pain, my neighbor went to church every Sunday and she would stand and chat and exchange kind words with everyone she saw on the way there and back.
A few months before she passed, my neighbor climbed several flights of stairs to spend time at my bedside and to fellowship with me when I was in need of moral guidance and support.
Gertrude Weaver passed away at 116, but not before she passed on a gem.
Asked about her secrets to long life, she said, “Treat people right and be nice to
other people the way you want them to be nice to you."Old age can be scary because it visibly reminds us that we are moving closer to the great unknown. We all want to be young and strong and vibrant and we are fearful of the vulnerability and even dependence of old age.
But old age isn't a punishment, and it isn't a rite of passage. Not everyone will enjoy the good fortune of old age.
Jeanne Calment, once the world's oldest person, passed away at 122 in 1997.
In one of the quotes attributed to her, she said, "Excuse me if I'm clinging on to life,
but my parents wove me from tight thread."We would do well to learn and to honor and respect the elderly among us for, if we are lucky, we will grow old one day too.
Sources:
All I can say is that, I wanted to grow old. Like, I get wrinkles and whatever it is that should be a proof of an old age woman. Well, of course by that time, I should already done my part of being in this world. Hehe.. Nice meeting you dear. Its my first time visiting you, actually. :))