When Old Folks Talk

Grandma starts to talk and the smiles become forced and the eyes start to roll, because Grandma is going into a recital of her current medical concerns. There’s the hearing problem, the blood pressure, the bowel stuff, the swollen ankles, and that mysterious dizziness that pops up from time to time. Then there’s what she can’t eat anymore and the new medications. And don’t get her started on her teeth!

Welcome to Life as it Turns Out. The older we get and the more broken down we get, the more our world shrinks to our immediate environment and concerns. Finally our own body and its depredations constitute our most passionate focus. And that’s the way it is.

Yes, I am sure you have better things to do than listen to the ‘organ recital’ of the elderly.

Your life is full of meaning and activity and you can take your healthy body for granted. And this too shall pass, and your horizons will shrink and you will become grateful for anybody to listen to what is most important and pressing to you at that time, like your prostate.

So, please listen and respond with your own ‘organ recital”: an empathetic ear, a kindly eye, and a caring heart.

Pay your dues. Your turn is coming.