If we could see all that our elderly have endured we would more easily understand why they are wrinkled and stooped, aching and slow. Life is a battle and they have survived long years of combat. It savaged their bodies. It challenged their minds. It broke their hearts.
But the memories, the skills, the knowledge, the love and wisdom inside those scarred and failing shells?
If we could see it all we would be blinded by such unimaginable light and deafened by the symphonies of their lives. And their untold stories would leave us wrecked, full of wonder, and hoping against hope that we could live so long and so well.
I’m a caregiver for my 90 year old mother. Your words have touched my heart. It can be difficult to be patient with her fragile state.