A fraternity of elders
The Society of Elders
Seniors are bonded together in an informal society through a shared history of life experiences. Even though we may not have met, we often smile as we pass on the street.
We nod with respectful empathy when we see a fellow human being having difficulty walking, using a cane, or being pushed in a wheelchair. Those of us who are relatively able bodied understand that most of the physically challenged were like us once, and that we may be in their shoes some day.
We fully know the meaning of ‘temporarily able bodied’ that the physically disabled use to describe the rest of us.
When I was younger I often looked away in embarrassment, unable to look directly at someone who was struggling. I wouldn’t have known what to do if we’d made eye contact. Now I acknowledge them and wonder what it’s like being them. And I wonder how I’d feel if I were in their situation.
Sometimes I’m curious about what put them in their current state. If we make eye contact and smile, I’ve even struck up a conversation and heard a couple of compelling stories of courageous determination.
We’re an elite group who’ve endured and survived life’s trials and tribulations. Along the way we’ve lost friends and loved ones to natural or accidental death or suicide. We’re happy to be here, but we also miss those that didn’t make it this far.
We’ve lived to tell tales of youthful passions and indiscretions and outlived yearnings to scale fantasized mountains. Maturity taught us that the views from pinnacles often aren’t worth the personal cost of arrival. We understand the adage, “be careful what you wish for – you might get it.”
From our privileged position, we’re bemused by true believers who frantically dash around trying to save the world and themselves from one or another boogey-man or looming catastrophe. We’ve made peace with the crazy notion, learned as two-year olds, that we can’t stand it if the life isn’t fair.
We appreciate the balance in life and in the world. Sometimes we’re appropriately rewarded for our efforts and sometimes not, and fortunately sometimes we don’t fail as miserably as we richly deserved because of our human frailty.
We recognize the supreme values of love and kindness, and are tolerant of others’ pursuits of happiness.
Though our eyesight may be dimmed, our hearing dulled, and our muscles and joints ache, we have a heightened appreciation of the simple pleasures of hearing springtime peepers and anticipating the return of robins.
We’ve found a measure of strength in the problems we’ve survived, the suffering we’ve endured, and confidently face the unforeseeable challenges that lie ahead.
It takes a heap of living to receive the blessings of senior citizenship.
(reprised from 2007)
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