His wrinkled hands trembled as he lifted the coffee cup and took a sip. I watched him, as he frowned over his glasses and took a bite into the sandwich on his plate. Bent over, his age showed in his hunch, the years in his silver hair, but love in his face. She sat in the chair next to him and with her coffee cup nearby. She looked at him and smiled, with every sip she took…
This was the very sight that caught my eye as I entered the cafe today. Immense sadness struck me… Life & death, very much a normal process you may say. Yet how many of us have looked Age in its face and said: this is us in 30, 40, 50 years? How many of us have let time run by in your years of youth and neglected, ignored, mocked or demeaned the elderly? I am no advocate of “respect by seniority” but this doesn’t stop me from reflecting on how little we know or care about our folks.
We complain endlessly about how parents/grandparents were slow – they cannot understand us! They won’t walk and eat faster! Why should they a full day to do all these when I can multi-task and complete them all in an hour? We whine about their reluctance to progress with society – they repeat themselves endlessly about worries that should not be given a second thought given this time and age, they insist on walking down an aisle to get their groceries when I could click them all into my online shopping cart! And this list of ranting goes on and on… In years to come we’ll be the “reason for complaints” category.
If you ever wish to lash out impatiently at an elderly again – give it a second thought.
Now this brought me to think about Valentine’s Day. I don’t ever believe in the concept of “Forever”. And hence love is never “forever”, no matter what he/she tells you. Not unless, you’re looking at this wonderful story from John Fugelsang – Guilt: A Love Story (I chanced upon this on NPR – A Brother & Sister Gets Married & Later, Their Son Tweets It as well as from Queens Theatre – Guilt: A Love Story). Truly a story of faith that touched my heart, I recommend you’ll pay some attention to this.
And as the story unfolds, you might have already guessed what I might’ve deemed the most meaningful poem for valentine’s day … my all-time favourite: When You Are Old – William Butler Yeats.
What might yours be – this most meaningful/inspiring/heart-warming poem for Valentine’s Day?
rustic recluse 