The long wait

I met this really old woman the other day at a party. Shecame by, assisted by a younger woman and sat at our table. She had thispermanent, apologetic smile on her face and kept on looking at me and myfriend, waiting for us to say something. We did say something polite and shereplied “ ‘This is old age. I have lost all of my five senses and I am unableto hear you. I am waiting for God to locate my file so he can finally call meto be with him’. I had this strange urge to just walk up and run away or justget up and hug her or just say something to comfort her but I did nothing ofthe sort. I just kept sitting, looking at her, trying hard to smile, feeling astrange sharp feeling “ I don’t know what it was “ maybe sorrow or fear orperhaps guilt. It made me think of all the people in my family who were gettingold “ the pain they were all going through, silently. In that moment, I prayedfor all of them and their happiness.

I don’t know what it is about old age “ like they say “ itis your second childhood. I shudder to think how one must feel as one growsolder “ living with multiple medical issues which only get worse; getting upevery morning, hoping someone might remember to call you or make the time tomeet you.