Making old people happy.

We have my Godparents staying with us this week. These people have loved, cared for and watched over me (to the extent I let them) my whole life. They are elderly now and trying to enjoy those years some people call "golden". Seems to me that when one's body is breaking down and starting to fail, when one is retired with little to do and one's family is busy and the kids are occupied with a busy life, that retirement can seem unpleasant.

Making the old people in my life happy has become more important to me as I progress in age myself. It might be that I hope the same will be done for me in my "golden" years. But that isn't really it. I honestly love and care for the folks who cared for me in my childhood.

Although bridging the gap between our generations can be trying. They see the world differently. We have differing values. I am sometimes insecure about the boy I was, how I am remembered and am usually surprised to find that the annoying boy I was in my memory, is either forgotten or forgiven by the folks I am with. Sometimes negative memories from the past must be overlooked on my part. Sometimes those memories are too hard to forget and cannot be overlooked. There are some people from my childhood I choose not to associate with anymore.

But the ones in my home, while not perfect people, are people who love me and now love my wife and family. I am so very grateful for their company and I hope that the next day or two of their "golden" years are happy for them.