I will answer this question with a heart-touching short story. Now, it is for others to decide if they admit it or not.
Once upon a time, there was a boy, who was very studious and intelligent. Despite being from a modest family of a sleepy town, he studied well to get scholarship and complete his education. When he was 23, he got job at a well reputed organization. At the age of 25, he was married to a beautiful girl. Over next 5 years, he was blessed with 3 children. His life was the one that could make anybody envious. He had accomplished so many things at such a tender age. There were more than 20 books to his name and was well respected in the society.
He had everything that a common man dreams of like a lavish house, a beautiful wife, loving kids, prestige in society, and a job which gave him an identity anybody would die to have. Before he turned 55 years of age, all his children were married off. He was lucky to have kids who were also well educated, smart and talented. He always had a sense of pride for the life he could afford. He had all rights to do so.
On turning 60, he retired without any liability. By this time, he was blessed with many grandchildren. Still many people believed that he was the luckiest person they know. He had a stringent diet and nobody knew if he had ever fallen ill. When he turned 80, he only grew older physically, his body had wrinkles, but neither his hands trembled nor his voice was bleak. He grew older gracefully. He had a commanding voice of his youth, a beaming confidence and had the same emotional toughness that had been his trademark. He was revered as an emotionally strong man; after all he saw the demise of his son and hadn't shed a tear, at least in public,
Life started to change in his last few years after he turned ninety. People started to experience a change in his behavior. The “who cares” attitude started to wear out and he started to cherish every visitor. He was very lonely but at least he was lucky to have the company of his loving wife. It was strange but cute to know that even after around 60 years of togetherness, they both still argued over trivial things. Couples will never change!! May be it was their pass time activity as they had the impeccable understanding and almost every time one of them would say, “Ok, I take back my words” to close an argument.
In his last days, he started to open up his heart, you got to know his softer side and you start feeling bad for him. You knew his children are already pre-occupied in their own lives. In fact, his children have also grown older and have become grandparents. So, they find it difficult to come to meet them more often. Also, he would not leave his home and go to stay with his children. No one is wrong; there is mutual love and respect. His children and grandchildren love him but they are cob-webbed in their own life.
He never looked so lonely. Was he hiding his emotions all these years? We thought that he never missed his children and grandchildren. It is unfortunate to see a man with a prosperous family to feel dejected. People knew him as an epitome of strength and courage, now they were sad to see his weaker side; People were not prepared to see the flaws that they hoped the great man didn’t had. But, Life is all about change.
He was a very good person and at the same time he was very practical and always ahead of his times in his thinking and approach. He often talked about forbidden topics like death in the most casual way. He once said that "I want my wife to die before me…because if I die first then she would be heartbroken. I don't want her to see me dead". Her wife who will be always sitting next to him protested as she didn’t liked talking about stuff like death. She told, "don't talk about these and let us leave these things on God". He would jokingly say that they were not Romeo and Juliet that they would die together. Someone has to go first and the other will come after some time.
While talking to him, I realized that Old people have a lot of time and you can learn many things from them. He had plenty of wisdom. It was great to listen to him when he would share about his life experiences. He passionately shared different chapters of his life. He too had few regrets. He felt that he should have been more benevolent. He also wanted to open a school in the village from where his family had migrated. He cherished his old memories and talking to him was the best thing I have ever done for him.
Now he is not in this world but the interactions we had has changed my outlook towards old people. Despite being progressive, he finally failed to cope up with the fast paced world. His life has been mysterious, many never got to know how he felt in his last days. He was always considered very lucky and he lived long like a king and died like one. But, one thing is sure that although he never revealed but he badly missed his children and grandchildrens during major chunk of his life. I salute the life of unsung heroes like him who didn't fought in the battle field but fought a battle everyday as they struggled with their emotions gracefully.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Afterthoughts on the above story
In old age the physical appearance changes, the voice may bleak, the hands may tremble, the skin will have wrinkles and still you will look beautiful with that smile. Every stage is important. Every event or every person we meet is important else we wouldn't have met them.
Old age is a stage when people revisit their life. They have fond memories of past. All our life we are running a race and find it difficult to slow down. So, it’s a phase when people analyze what they have done over their lifetime. They feel proud for some moment, miss some moment, and weep over some incidents. But, unfortunately only a handful cares. No one is seeing all this as others are running their own race. Probably others would realize when they will get older.
Please slow down to go and spend some quality time with them. They want to meet people as they must feel bored staying indoor 24 x 7 x 365. They have been like you and wanted to travel, explore, and celebrate life. Now they feel very lonely. Wouldn’t you make their life more beautiful? They don’t need your money or gifts, they only need you. Do lend your ears to an old person. They will appreciate it and you will learn to be more patient, compassionate and a better human being.
The modern lifestyle has hampered their emotional well-being. Hope you will acknowledge their plight as most of them are not on Quora to speak their mind. No one should be blamed but we must introspect and do something good for old people. We would get many in the form of our grandparents or parents or neighbors. Hope one day the development and economic model includes the needs of the old people.
If this topic resonates with you then you can check out
--------------
No Place for Parents: An Open Letter to all those who find their parents as a burden
This video made me terribly miss my Grandfather
Original Source: My blog Life is Beautiful, Photo Credits- Emotionalfulls
Once upon a time, there was a boy, who was very studious and intelligent. Despite being from a modest family of a sleepy town, he studied well to get scholarship and complete his education. When he was 23, he got job at a well reputed organization. At the age of 25, he was married to a beautiful girl. Over next 5 years, he was blessed with 3 children. His life was the one that could make anybody envious. He had accomplished so many things at such a tender age. There were more than 20 books to his name and was well respected in the society.
He had everything that a common man dreams of like a lavish house, a beautiful wife, loving kids, prestige in society, and a job which gave him an identity anybody would die to have. Before he turned 55 years of age, all his children were married off. He was lucky to have kids who were also well educated, smart and talented. He always had a sense of pride for the life he could afford. He had all rights to do so.
On turning 60, he retired without any liability. By this time, he was blessed with many grandchildren. Still many people believed that he was the luckiest person they know. He had a stringent diet and nobody knew if he had ever fallen ill. When he turned 80, he only grew older physically, his body had wrinkles, but neither his hands trembled nor his voice was bleak. He grew older gracefully. He had a commanding voice of his youth, a beaming confidence and had the same emotional toughness that had been his trademark. He was revered as an emotionally strong man; after all he saw the demise of his son and hadn't shed a tear, at least in public,
Life started to change in his last few years after he turned ninety. People started to experience a change in his behavior. The “who cares” attitude started to wear out and he started to cherish every visitor. He was very lonely but at least he was lucky to have the company of his loving wife. It was strange but cute to know that even after around 60 years of togetherness, they both still argued over trivial things. Couples will never change!! May be it was their pass time activity as they had the impeccable understanding and almost every time one of them would say, “Ok, I take back my words” to close an argument.
In his last days, he started to open up his heart, you got to know his softer side and you start feeling bad for him. You knew his children are already pre-occupied in their own lives. In fact, his children have also grown older and have become grandparents. So, they find it difficult to come to meet them more often. Also, he would not leave his home and go to stay with his children. No one is wrong; there is mutual love and respect. His children and grandchildren love him but they are cob-webbed in their own life.
He never looked so lonely. Was he hiding his emotions all these years? We thought that he never missed his children and grandchildren. It is unfortunate to see a man with a prosperous family to feel dejected. People knew him as an epitome of strength and courage, now they were sad to see his weaker side; People were not prepared to see the flaws that they hoped the great man didn’t had. But, Life is all about change.
He was a very good person and at the same time he was very practical and always ahead of his times in his thinking and approach. He often talked about forbidden topics like death in the most casual way. He once said that "I want my wife to die before me…because if I die first then she would be heartbroken. I don't want her to see me dead". Her wife who will be always sitting next to him protested as she didn’t liked talking about stuff like death. She told, "don't talk about these and let us leave these things on God". He would jokingly say that they were not Romeo and Juliet that they would die together. Someone has to go first and the other will come after some time.
While talking to him, I realized that Old people have a lot of time and you can learn many things from them. He had plenty of wisdom. It was great to listen to him when he would share about his life experiences. He passionately shared different chapters of his life. He too had few regrets. He felt that he should have been more benevolent. He also wanted to open a school in the village from where his family had migrated. He cherished his old memories and talking to him was the best thing I have ever done for him.
Now he is not in this world but the interactions we had has changed my outlook towards old people. Despite being progressive, he finally failed to cope up with the fast paced world. His life has been mysterious, many never got to know how he felt in his last days. He was always considered very lucky and he lived long like a king and died like one. But, one thing is sure that although he never revealed but he badly missed his children and grandchildrens during major chunk of his life. I salute the life of unsung heroes like him who didn't fought in the battle field but fought a battle everyday as they struggled with their emotions gracefully.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Afterthoughts on the above story
In old age the physical appearance changes, the voice may bleak, the hands may tremble, the skin will have wrinkles and still you will look beautiful with that smile. Every stage is important. Every event or every person we meet is important else we wouldn't have met them.
Old age is a stage when people revisit their life. They have fond memories of past. All our life we are running a race and find it difficult to slow down. So, it’s a phase when people analyze what they have done over their lifetime. They feel proud for some moment, miss some moment, and weep over some incidents. But, unfortunately only a handful cares. No one is seeing all this as others are running their own race. Probably others would realize when they will get older.
Please slow down to go and spend some quality time with them. They want to meet people as they must feel bored staying indoor 24 x 7 x 365. They have been like you and wanted to travel, explore, and celebrate life. Now they feel very lonely. Wouldn’t you make their life more beautiful? They don’t need your money or gifts, they only need you. Do lend your ears to an old person. They will appreciate it and you will learn to be more patient, compassionate and a better human being.
The modern lifestyle has hampered their emotional well-being. Hope you will acknowledge their plight as most of them are not on Quora to speak their mind. No one should be blamed but we must introspect and do something good for old people. We would get many in the form of our grandparents or parents or neighbors. Hope one day the development and economic model includes the needs of the old people.
If this topic resonates with you then you can check out
--------------
No Place for Parents: An Open Letter to all those who find their parents as a burden
This video made me terribly miss my Grandfather
Original Source: My blog Life is Beautiful, Photo Credits- Emotionalfulls
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