This is a very personal post dealing with one of the most painful aspects of aging. Watching those we love growing weaker.

Yesterday, all this hit home as one of my best friends could not come to church.  She was dealing with an emergency room visit with her aging parent who had suddenly taken ill.

I sat by her husband who told me about how he had spent Saturday,helping his own parents who were not doing well either.

“Alice, our parents are dying,”  he said in one honest blow.

Can the inevitable be stopped?

No, but it can be delayed.  Eventually, though, everyone has to face death sooner or later.

But another thought hit me while visiting a nursing home last week.  We had to file past the same poor wretched souls sitting in their wheelchairs -waiting for death.   In their situations, facing it involves a daily mirror; a prolonged delay that is both agonizingly slow and almost welcomed.  Most are asleep, some have a vacant stare, and only one looked up at me. 

I spoke to her and smiled. For a brief instant I thought she was going to smile back, maybe even speak to me. There was a small flicker of recognition in her eyes.  Had we known each other from the past?

That didn’t matter.  She was someone’s mother, daughter, sister, friend- just as they all had been once vibrant people going to work, raising their children and enjoying their lives and challenges. Now they sit in idleness with their hands still.

But our struggles continue for today.  We’re faced with keeping our parents safe and as happy as possible.  So if your own personal challenge involves picking out the best wheelchair or cane your mother or dad will be using for the first time, or trying to put out a kitchen grease fire like we did yesterday while my mom was cooking fried chicken, you find the strength to persevere, because giving up is not an option.  

The most important thing I’ve learned is we can all help each other.   We can find strength in just listening to one another because not only can we see each tear, we can also feel them.  

If you want to share your story with us, we’re here to listen.

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