Connecting the past and the future

I absolutely adore older people. When I was in high school, I volunteered at a rest home for one of my church projects (the old personal progress "laurel projects"). Even after I accomplished the required 10 hours to complete the project, I continued to visit those amazing elderly people. I will never forget this quirky yet wonderful women named "Mae." She was over 100 years old. I also remember being truly saddened when a few of my friends and I arrived at the rest home to find her room empty and we were told she had died a few days before. I also remember George Catmul. He was a character. I truly believe so much can be learned from visiting and conversing with the elderly.



After my husband finished dental school, we had the opportunity to live with his grandmother for a year. At the time she was 96 years old and still very active and lucid. I remember going up to visit her after my children were in bed and asking her about her childhood in Wyoming, what it was like to live without cars, running water, or any of the modern day conveniences we have today. She is truly a remarkable woman. One of my sweetest memories (which is actually a bad parenting moment on my part) is when Mark and I were helping our next door neighbors paint the interior of their home one night. We put the boys to bed, got a baby monitor and knowing that grandma was upstairs we went next door and checked occasionally on our boys. After a few times of checking on them and finding them fast asleep, we all went downstairs in our neighbors home (where the baby monitor was not) and didn't check on our kids for probably 20 minutes. I eventually went back to check on them and to my horror, discovered our 3 year old was gone! I quickly ran upstairs and found him safely on the lap of his great grandmother. He woke up and realized his mom and dad were not there, so he went up stairs to grandma. She read to him, talked and sang with him, helped him with his letters, and just comforted him. I still have that sweet image in my mind and even though I dropped the ball on checking on my children, I am grateful for that time a great grandson and great grandmother had together.



Last night I had the pleasure of visiting with this same grandmother who now resides in a assisted living home and is about to turn 100 years old in December. She grows a little more frail each time I see her, but she is still doing amazingly well and she still has her mind and can recall many things from her past and she still knows much of the present. Each time I go visit her and see her old body I am afraid she will not know me (seeing as I have only been a part of the family for 10 years), but each time I tell her who I am (she is legally blind) I see instant recognition on her face. Last night was a sweet visit. Usually she tells me of her health ailments and personal worries but this time she focused solely on me and my little family. She remembered when Mark and I met and said how grateful she was that he was able to find me and how good we are for each other. She told me I was a wonderful mother and was very proud of how Mark and I are trying to live our lives and raise our children. She told me it is what every parent wishes for their child. I was deeply touched. I know I need to be better about visiting her and taking better care of her. It was easier when I lived with her and when I had less children, but I am just making excuses. I know I can be better. She still continues to be such a great example in living the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark has been responsible of her finances as his parents are on a mission, and just last night when I saw her the first thing she asked me was if Mark was still paying her tithing and if it was up to date. I assured her he is and it was.



In December many of grandma's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are getting ready to celebrate her 100 years on this earth. We are making a scrapbook for her with 100 reasons why we all love her. I will of course dedicate a blog post to her on that day.



Seeing how full of life Mark's grandmother is, makes me think about my own grandparents. One of my grandmothers is very much like Mark's grandmother, although about 10 years younger. She is a faithful, wonderful woman as well, and I'm sad I don't get to spend as much time with her. My other grandparents have been stricken with dementia in their old age. When they see me there is no recognition which makes me very sad because I have such wonderful memories of them being amazing grandparents when I was younger. It's unfair why some lose their memories and some do not. But I am grateful for all of the older people in my life. Even in my ward and neighborhood I have the opportunity to be around such amazing people. The older I get, the more I realize how age is relative and people are still people regardless of how old or young their bodies are. For most people, great wisdom comes with age. Like I said earlier, the younger generations can learn so much from that wisdom. I love learning that wisdom and I hope I am applying some of that wisdom to my life and to my children's lives so it can help us in the future. And I hope that one day I will be able to pass down some of that wisdom to my own grandchildren and great grandchildren.