I'm Old!

Well, this morning I flew up from Ft Lauderdale and I sat next to a little old lady and her husband. She was precious. I wondered if I was so attentive because of the fact that I just brought my own mother to live with me. When people ask, "doesn't everyone know how to fasten a seat belt?" I can tell you, that this seems to be something older people struggle with. This poor woman was trying in vain to connect them, and as I reached over to help her, I realized her husband was worse. He just couldn't do it and I tried to reach across the woman to connect his as well.

Now later on she told me that her husband used to run a whole large department in the police department in DC. I thought of how we can be so bright and competent as to run large departments and keep it all together, and years of aging reduce us to little dependent children again.

I bet this man couldn't have imagined this for his life.

The woman told me of how they had met at the police department and she told me several times. She told me that this was her second marriage and when I'd asked how long they'd been married, she didn't know. Neither did he, but they both concurred, "a long time."

They were adorable together as she would lean into me and whisper, "He's starting to fail." Then she added, "Women seem to be around longer than men,don't they?"

At this she started laughing hilariously as I shared that, indeed, in the nursing homes, the women fought over them, as there were 6 women to every one man.

The biggest joke I have with my daughter, I told her, is when she promised she'd never put me in one of those nursing homes when I get old, at which point I screamed, "Oh no you don't! You don't think I poured all my life into you so that you can rob me of the one thing I have to look forward to, do you???"

I think I may have actually planted some seeds with this LOL, (little old lady) since she was deep in thought as I was joking about it.

She looked at me several times and said, "You are so pretty. You have a lot of time. I'm just old."

When she took my hands at one point and actually prayed that the Lord would bless me, I was so touched.

The flight attendant came up to them to ask if they had a wheelchair waiting and when she discovered they did not, she told them she would ask for one. She said, "I'm not saying you can't walk, but it's just easier for you to get through the airport with one."

Now the woman turns to me and asks, "Is this because we're old?" "Oh no!" I tell her, in fact everyone is overwhelmed in a new airport and they are so spread out, it's a very good service to have."

"Oh, how wonderful!" She exclaimed. "Are you getting one too?"

Haha! I probably should, but I'm in uniform, so I doubt they will let me have one. It's for the special people and I guess they assume, I can get there since I work in the airports."

"Oh, you do? Oh yes, I see you are in a uniform!I didn't even notice."

She kept telling me that she was so happy to be sitting next to me. "You are just so nice," she kept saying over and over again.

"Well, you are very nice too, and I'm glad we could sit together."

I shared with her that my mother had come to stay and she said, "Oh, I took care of my mother too, when she was in her nineties."

Well, now this woman was heading there herself, as she was 87, but I see that she had been through, what I was just now beginning.

A journey of caring for one of your aging parents. And I could also see through her eyes, just how special and fleeting this time really is.