As far as the earth goes, you are brand-spanking new. Your skin is tight and shiny. Your teeth are flawless. Your energy is boundless.

And you will believe, for a very long time, that you will always be this way.

Until you aren’t.

It may start when your weight starts creeping up on you. Or maybe it will be the moment that the doctor tells you that you need reading glasses. Maybe a tooth will crack while you are eating popcorn.

I don’t know how it will happen. But it will.

And it will be both shocking and terrifying.

Realizing that you won’t be 22 forever is a surprise, even though you innately know that you can’t be.

Realizing that you won’t be 22 forever is a surprise, even though you innately know that you can’t be. (tweet this)

You will get older.

Your skin will get dull spots where there once was a glistening tan.
Your teeth may be made of porcelain, not bone.
Your hearing might miss some of the quieter conversations at the dinner table.

Bodies wear down after a life well lived.

Remember this when you are stuck behind a woman walking slowly in front of you when you are trying to run through the airport.

Remember this when you notice an older person sitting alone at a family gathering.

They can’t believe this is happening to them. They didn’t really understand that one day, they would be the old person in the room that people find inconvenient.

They used to be young, vibrant, powerful, helpful. Now they feel their independence slipping slowly away.

It’s frustrating…and sometimes humiliating. This wasn’t how they used to be.

Try to look past the faded skin and tired eyes to see their heart and their mind. Talk to them. Connect with them. Understand them.

Because they are just like you.

And one day…far, far away…you will be just like them.

Image by Marjan Lazarevski

The post How to Treat the Elderly appeared first on Advice for My Daughter.

The post How to Treat the Elderly appeared first on Advice for My Daughter.