The Loneliness of Aging
I’ve spent the last few days in our house alone and I’m aware of how it would feel if I were alone permanently. My husband and I talk frequently about what would the other do when one of us dies? We always come up against “I don’t have a clue”. I live in a urban neighborhood and see lots of cars go by, hear local noises and have very little personal contact with any neighbors. The idea that we can continue to live this way at this stage of our life seems to be more and more a fantasy. We need human contact, and perhaps need it even more now that we are old ,simply because we have much more time to fill.
So, more and more we face the reality of a senior community of some type which will also be close enough to our children so they can visit.
Meaningful friendships are few and far between at this age. Many friends live far away and are experiencing the vicissitudes of aging. We are no longer able to be of much physical help to each other. Some friends are no longer cognizant of what is going on around them. The brain does shrink and our ability to remember and interact socially has slowed.
Getting old and facing one’s demise is a messy business. Loneliness comes with the territory and the knowledge that ultimately we all leave this world alone. Not such a bad thing IF we are prepared spiritually and have some belief that there is something more than this physical state.
My favorite thought on old age and dying is that I’m much like an old guitar case; worn and beat up but still can make some music. And with that I leave you for today.
var skin = {}; skin[‘BORDER_COLOR’] = ‘#cccccc’; skin[‘ENDCAP_BG_COLOR’] = ‘#e0ecff’; skin[‘ENDCAP_TEXT_COLOR’] = ‘#333333’; skin[‘ENDCAP_LINK_COLOR’] = ‘#0000cc’; skin[‘ALTERNATE_BG_COLOR’] = ‘#ffffff’; skin[‘CONTENT_BG_COLOR’] = ‘#ffffff’; skin[‘CONTENT_LINK_COLOR’] = ‘#0000cc’; skin[‘CONTENT_TEXT_COLOR’] = ‘#333333’; skin[‘CONTENT_SECONDARY_LINK_COLOR’] = ‘#7777cc’; skin[‘CONTENT_SECONDARY_TEXT_COLOR’] = ‘#666666’; skin[‘CONTENT_HEADLINE_COLOR’] = ‘#333333’; skin[‘NUMBER_ROWS’] = ‘4’; google.friendconnect.container.setParentUrl(‘/’ /* location of rpc_relay.html and canvas.html */); google.friendconnect.container.renderMembersGadget( { id: ‘div-2340263134669816420’, site: ‘04987887884667086153’ }, skin);
Senior thoughts 