Celebrating the Elderly

Throughout high school I volunteered on a regular basis at our local senior center. I will always distinctly remember two people; a woman who would tell me the same stories over and over as we looked through her albums, and a sharp-witted man who was a retired fire fighter and proud Freemason. For a while I aspired to be a geriatric nurse, until I experienced the heartache that comes when they pass on. Seeing lonely seniors whose children never visited them was a hard lesson to learn about how our Western culture commonly discards parents.

After my own Mother passed, my Father remarried a Chinese woman and she educated me about how Eastern culture puts so much emphasis on caring for parents it is now the law in China! 

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Beyond the daily care of our aging parents, how can we do better as a culture to celebrate our elderly? Here are a few ideas:

As the saying goes, “Age before beauty,” proper etiquette dictates that the eldest female is given priority in these circumstances:

• When people are seated. (Older men offered remaining seats.)
• When opening doors for others.
• When orders are taken at a restaurant.
• When introducing people outside of a business environment. (Older men next.)

(I cite no sources for this as I was a “Manners Instructor” at a finishing school for girls. I also graduated from one as a child. These are American rules. Every country & culture differs.)

​These are more ways to celebrate our elders:

• Serving them first at home mealtime.
• Performing lawn and home care when they are unable.
• Driving them around for appointments or errands after they relinquish their driver’s license.
• Overseeing financials if possible to prevent them from being scammed.
• Being an advocate if they are hospitalized or live in a senior home to avoid over-medicating, senior abuse, or negligence.
• Call them as often as you can, send them letters or cards, invite them to social functions, and drive them to their favorite activities to alleviate loneliness triggered depression.
• Tell them they look beautiful.
• Ask for their advice to acknowledge their wisdom and value.
• Throw huge birthday parties for them!

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Consider this, if you believe in the concept of reincarnation, then we are possibly the older souls who came after them and we are caring for them now as our spiritual children from past lives. Even if you extend compassion and kindness to an unrelated elder, you never know when your souls may cross paths again in future lifetimes.

by Lady Adalynne
for our Autumn Equinox 2017 newsletter

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