Senior

As a young girl I didn’t think much about senior citizens

Although they were present everywhere

I assumed they would always be near

Sitting on porches, saying: “please” and “thank you”

Peering out of windows, exchanging greetings and pleasantries

Patiently teaching, correcting, sharing advice and warnings

Encouraging, hugging and kissing

Giving small, but much appreciated treats

Clapping hands, tapping feet and snapping fingers to rhymes and beats

Speaking in parables, offering brutally frank and often unsolicited; but much needed, criticism

Observing and understanding

Constantly listening to a radio or watching television

Relaxing, napping, and  keenly aware of the changing world

Bowed and hunch-back

Slow moving

Hard of hearing

Needing glasses to see

 

 

In contrast, today’s seniors are

Biking, jogging and walking

Mingling, serving, working  and networking

Driving, riding and flying

They look back reminiscently

They look forward anxiously and expectedly

They create, dream and influence

They are engaging, enjoying, erasing and expanding

They face the future fearlessly

They reconcile with their past

They strive to become whom  they believe they were meant to be

They marry, divorce, and remarry, they live openly in adultery

They create bucket lists

They refresh themselves and chase their childhood dreams

They are seemingly forever in  some kind of recovery

They revive old careers or begin new ones

They are tireless, restless and constantly moving

They are happy, helpful and hopeful

The seniors I see now include me!