As a lady in my late-twenties who has been hanging out at St. John’s Home a lot the past few weeks, I have come to get a better sense of what it feels like to be their age.
Many old folks feel inadequate in today’s world; the fear of growing irrelevant is very real. Following deteriorating health and fitness levels, the gears of their minds cool gradually but surely while the world and its technology evolve at an exponential rate.
Conversation becomes a great source of joy, not only providing the social aspect of human interaction, but also helping to stimulate the mind and populate it with fresh ideas. Still, while they are usually excited to have someone to talk to, the folks here have also learned to make things interesting for themselves.
Their minds, though no longer as swift, are still as colourful as they embrace all that is around them. They observe the brave little creatures that play hide-and-seek in our gardens and laugh with easy acceptance at their own creaky joints. Maybe you too will appreciate the comfort in the silent moments of enjoying things as they are after an initial chat with them.
Observing all this, I can’t help but revisit a topic many of us must have wondered about more than once: how will my twilight years be? I can’t say how things will turn out for sure, but I am inspired cultivate a curious mind to keep brain rust at bay, live a rich life of wonderful experiences so that I will have an abundance of memories that I can look back and fully appreciate without the chaos of youth, and grow meaningful relationships with which to enjoy the silent moments that are to come.