I saw this funny joke on the net. With apologies to the unknown author, let me share it with you.
Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
A couple of days later the doctor spoke to Morris and said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?"
Morris replied, "Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.'"
The doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur. Be careful.'"
Had a good laugh? So did I. But it asks for serious thinking. How many senior citizens do I know that are lonely, sick, and alone? Too many, it breaks my heart. There’s this old guy I know, just 65 years old. He’s always drunk. Day or night you’ll see him inebriated. He was abandoned by his wife and children many years ago because he is too poor, and didn’t have much education, so good paying jobs eluded him. He is just waiting to die, he told me. For him, life is so empty there is no sense in living. So he is slowly poisoning his system with alcohol.
Then there is this woman, 63 years old. Widowed, misunderstood by her children, and left alone by them most of the time. But she met this man, much younger than her; he must be between 45-50 years old. They fell in love and are now living together. You’ll never know the amount of flak she took for taking up with that man. But look at her now, looking younger than her 63 years, happy too, I think for she always wears a smile on her face.
How many times have we taken our elders for granted? Have we ever tried to think about the many sacrifices they have made for us? Now that we are grown up, do we tell them often how much we appreciate what they have done for us? Are we doing anything to make them feel loved and valued? Or are we driving them to ease the loneliness they feel in the only way they know how? Like alcohol or affection from other people, affection which we can give them because they deserve it?Let us give more attention to our elderly family members and make them happy and content and spare them the feeling of having outlived their usefulness to the family. They have done a lot for us, so let us return the favor.
