Aging, such a strange, difficult and interesting process. Every day we are getting older....with every breath we take we are one step closer to death. Kinda of sad.....no, don't worry, I really do not think about that often. However, this weekend I really started to reflect on aging. Obviously I am getting older, and thus, everyone around me is also aging. People important to me are getting older. With the circle of life, we are born, we live life and then we die. When thinking of this.....one can realize how important it is to live life to the fullest!!!
This past weekend while visiting my Grandma in the Nursing Home, I was forced to see the mortality of each person. To see how with getting older, and possibly getting diseases it really takes a toll on your body. Some people are still able to get around in wheel chairs okay, while others have limited mobility, but with the help of others can get around. Then there are those that are confined to their beds. Over the last few years I have gotten a lot better at going into Nursing Homes. Until my Grandma was in one 2.5+ years ago.......going to a Nursing Home would be the last thing I would want to do. It made me sooooooo incredibly sad. I would usually cry as soon as I entered the front door....how embarrassing. I just felt so incredibly bad for the people in there. I still feel a bit sad when I go to a Nursing Home, and I definitely shed some tears on Saturday, but I have gotten a bit better.
So anyway, after visiting with my Grandma for a few moments on Saturday, I walked around with some family members to visit a few other people we knew in the Nursing Home. Ironically, my Great Grandma's brother-in-law is right across the hall from her. I had not seen him for quite a while. He is now 92, but has endured some strokes which leaves him not able to talk that much, and he is pretty much confined to his bed. I remember him having such an ornery personality, but not as much anymore. I also visited with a guy that use to live in Zanesfield. Even my Mom and her siblings grew up with him (they grew up in the same town - this guy has lived there for a long time). But anyway, he is a sweetie and a little jokster. He has throat cancer, and the lump in his neck/throat is causing him a lot of pain. He was apologizing to us for it effecting his speech. I just felt so bad for him. Yet again.......forced to see the effects of aging.
So, then what really "brought it home"......... I was talking to a guy that grew up with my stepdad, they were really good friends. John would be 50 next month. As I was looking at this guy, I was noticing his wrinkles......thinking.......John will never experience those wrinkles. John will never experience the impact of aging. It kinda made me sad. Not sure why.........but I felt it inside. I realize something must have been so bad that he felt the only way for the pain to end would be to take his life. So, even though I think seeing the signs of aging can be sad at times.........it also made me sad that John will not experience the effects of aging. This could apply to anyone that died at any earlier age, but he is usually the one I think of and who I grew-up with.
So anyway.....tis the circle of life. Aging is just a part of life....for better or worse, it is a part of life - a natural process. We just need to make certain to spend time NOW with those that are important to us!! Life is short!!
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