Hug an elderly person
Posted by Marilyn on April 21, 2006
This may be an incredibly unorthodox title for a posting but stay with me because there is a point.
My father was 83 when he died in 2003, and he was in a nursing home for 2 of those last years. In that time, I found that he was treated as though he was hard of hearing (he wasn't) and that while his needs were being met, at times he wasn't treated with the dignity of being listened to. Today, the Queen turns 80, and she is still vibrant, capable and going strong and we can only hope that she continues to exhibit that kind of strength for many years to come. Were she not the Queen would she be treated with the same amount of respect at her age? It's hard to tell. I think we tend to dismiss elderly people, and sometimes this may prematurely age them. When visiting the nursing home, I saw this many many times and it made me incredibly sad. It still does thinking about it now.
The Queen is a credit to her age and she shows us that just because someone is elderly doesn't mean they're not capable.
So, in honor of the Queen's 80th birthday, hug an elderly person today.
Posted in Commentary | 2 Comments »
