Thanksgiving Day has become an interesting day for me. While I am grateful for being near my family, it is obvious to me that I am not a part of my daughter's family. They have their traditions, they have their friends, they have their habits, and I am only a spectator at their holiday gatherings.
Years ago I talked to old folks who lived alone and I asked they if they had family they could live with. Often the answer was yes, they had children and grandchildren, but they did not want to be shoved into the corner and not be allowed to do anything. That is how I am beginning to feel.
I guess that I will have to speak up and volunteer to do something on Christmas day.
I am not the patriarch of my family. I do not cook anything except what I bake to bring to the gathering. I do not help set up or clean up. And everyone is younger than me and I am finding it hard to just chat with these good folks.
It's interesting how I used to be critical of older people and how they acted. Now that I am older, what they did makes more sense. I am not ready to be a Sun City senior, trying desperately to act young when I am not.
Our Fellowship is youth oriented. We who are no longer youth often feel left out or relegated to being just spectators. Then we are mildly criticized as being good people doing nothing. We are old enough and smart enough to know what we can and cannot do. Do not add insult to injury.
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