Seasoned People of Age

Tomorrow begins a new decade, my third. Makes me feel young actually, whatever helps. A local lady just celebrated her 100th birthday. 10 decades. I can't even fathom how much wisdom a person like that has to share. I once heard an author say that the most valuable properties in the world are cemeteries because they contain acres of untapped potential. Damn that's depressing. His point was we should all live in such a way that we die empty having used up ourselves on others.

One of my favorite things to do that I never seem to do (why do we live like that) is sit and listen to seasoned people of age. Having lived through the Great Depression, The Final Solution, and the unpresedented development of mind blowing technology, these people have literally seen everything. Imagine their perspectives, commentary, stories....Why is it that we don't take the time to listen? Do we honestly believe they have nothing to say or are we so busy trying to construct our own stories we don't care to hear theirs?

A few weeks ago, Angie started her first job outside the home in over a decade. NND, is an award winning company that provides listening care to seasoned people of age (SPOA). A few days ago I, along with the kids, had the privelage of seeing Angie in action. We had accompanied her to give Christmas gifts to one of her SPOA's. This particular woman has a reputation for being particularly difficult (8 health care aids have already been chewed up and spit out by her before Angie came along). Seeing Angie interact with her client was a Masters course in human interaction, one that has not escaped the equally difficult son's attention. Last week, the son came to her and expressed through tears that Angie was a God sent, a literal answer to his prayers. He went on to say that in the 2 weeks Angie had cared and most of all listened to his mother, the transformation was incredible. He concluded by saying the family had been planning to switch his mother to government care (half the price) but after seeing how Angie has performed, she's worth the price.

Imagine the transformation that would take place if we all took time to really listen to a seasoned person of age? I think of my remarkable Roberts cousins Kris, Karl, Jeff, Lia and Lori and how even as young teenagers, they talked weekly with Roland Briggs, an elderly man living out his final years alone in a rest home. Such a small gesture, such a meaningful result.

Tomorrow launches a decade that will see more people become SPOA's then ever before in human history. We're talking 80-100 million people - many who have sacrificed their lives so we could enjoy ours. Who is your Roland Briggs? Lets find him/her together and keep human potential above ground. Die empty. Live full.

Happy New Year everyone!

John

P.S. I chose The Brothers Karamazov, JFK and the Unspeakable and God: A Biography for my Christmas books. Also, thanks for the Virgin Birth dialogue. Very interesting.