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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » What are your first thoughts when you come across someone who is really advanced in years?
Benedict Arnold

What are your first thoughts when you come across someone who is really advanced in years?

I was parked at the Wal-Mart the other day, and saw a very very very old man walking across the parking lot on his way in. 
It took him about ten minutes to get to the main door.
I thought about all the stuff he'd seen, and all the things he must know about. I wondered if he had a deep truth hidden in between his wrinkles, about something. . .perhaps he has the answer to some big world problem. .
Then I thought that when he dies, all of that knowledge is going to go into the grave at the same time he does. . .poof! . . Just like that.
Somebody should write a book and capture this, before it's gone forever.
.
I wondered about what others focus on when coming across someone very advanced in years?

Posted - March 26, 2017
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Responses


  • Do you think they are appreciated better in other places?
    I can't say I haven't heard that before.
    I think that maybe we ourselves have an attitude of condescension towards the very aged. We say they are cute, for example, like puppies, you know?
    I agree with you, besides the sometimes physical limitations, we need to address those of advanced age like anybody else.  If not with more deference. 
    They've been here longer.
    Thanks for responding Carbon. I appreciate your very thoughtful answer. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 26, 2017 9:37 PM MDT
      March 26, 2017 9:36 PM MDT
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  • 13071
    Your most welcome Lago. ;)
      March 26, 2017 9:37 PM MDT
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  • Thank you for your post I found it very touching, it helps to restore my faith in humanity when I read things like this. We can only hope this elderly gent has a loving family, for that's where his wisdom & knowledge will be passed.

    Btw it says something about you, to sit & spare a though for others that are so deserving, on doubt you gained something within by that moment. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 27, 2017 3:30 AM MDT
      March 26, 2017 11:48 PM MDT
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  • I think that's a very, very, good angle, . . . Maybe it is supposed to be passed on to to the young. Although I wonder how much do the young really listen. I know I didn't when I was in my twenties.
    I've thought about advising the young in this manner.
    Imagine that I have a winning lottery ticket, and I give it to you. You take that ticket, crumple it up, and stick it in your purse.
    Twenty years later, you get curious, check it out, and then you go, "Damm! He was right!!"
    But then it's too late to go cash the ticket . Yes?
    Thank you for responding and for you kind comments, Austrans. I do appreciate them. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 27, 2017 9:48 AM MDT
      March 27, 2017 9:46 AM MDT
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  • I can't add much either, I think your observation is perfect as it is.

    You know, I read it yesterday and thought about coincidence and how things come together. I was thinking about Pip at the same time. A 15 year old dog, I wonder if he thinks about what he was like when he was young, if he remembers the years when he ran until his lungs burst, the adventures he had. His mind's going, his body is failing him too. I looked at him and wondered what he thinks about now

    I read this in a novel, or something like this. There was an old man who always wanted to feel and smell the paws of dogs. He wanted to smell the grass they had run through, the places they had been. Their paws were their history, and in reading that history with his own eyes and feeling it with his fingers it helped him keep his own memories alive.

    What you said about your mum, how now she is revealing layers of experience you didn't know about because you want to know. And then I thought about my dad who died when he was 63. 

    Maybe we should start recording our histories before we get to your mum's age, perhaps we should all start much sooner because I didn't think he'd be gone so soon, and I never got to ask him things like you are now with your mum. I'm happy you are. I'd love to hear what she says.




    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 27, 2017 3:34 AM MDT
      March 27, 2017 2:42 AM MDT
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  • Much like all of this thread I found your post a pleasure to read, but I'm glad it came to an end, as I'm at work at the moment & struggling not to get emotional. :-) 
      March 27, 2017 3:44 AM MDT
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  • I'm struggling too. ) 
    Thank you, A.
      March 27, 2017 4:26 AM MDT
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  • What a pair of soppy mugs ... hey :-)
    Cheers 
      March 27, 2017 4:29 AM MDT
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  • :)
      March 27, 2017 6:47 AM MDT
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  • I think quite a bit about where things go, when they are no more. 
    Like when two people share a big love and then one day, the person looking back at you,. . .just looks different. . .Where does it go?. . . Does it float away and gets picked up by other lovers? . . .Somewhere in Egypt?
    When I look at my doggie, and his big eyes are on mine, I wonder the same thing, where does all  that feeling go when he closes his eyes for the last time? . . .Do love and memories exist on their own? . . .Like clouds? . . .Do you know what I mean? 

    It just seems like such a waste, to let all that knowledge and experience just dissolve into the big dark cold wet nothing . .. Like letting books fall into the fire.

    Thank you for your post, My dearest Ms L.   I didn't think about it in terms of our doggies, but you are right, it's the same. It's perfect.

    She told me about how a soldier coming from the war took a liking to her when she was sixteen and how after literally chasing her around a bed for most of two nights, took her to Germany, where he was stationed.
    She also told me that her favorite drink was Miller high life beer. And that she used to drink it frequently...I don't remember ever seeing her drink alcohol.
    Thank you for taking the time to write. You know how much I appreciate it when you do.
      March 27, 2017 7:21 AM MDT
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  • 2217
    OMG I'll be there myself in a few years time.
      March 27, 2017 3:10 AM MDT
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  • That's right ain't it.
    In think that's the great equalizer there. Oldiness. 
    I was thinking about this the.other day after watching the great Arnold Schwarzenegger in a commercial for some video game.
    I thought, not even him could escape it.
    Thanks.M.  That is definitely one.of my thoughts.too.
      March 27, 2017 9:54 AM MDT
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