The Beauty of Aging

Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty — they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. ~Martin Buxbaum

I love this quote.  I only wish I could change it to say, "they leave it on their faces AND move it into their hearts.  I love how God keeps introducing new groups of people into my life.  Lately, He has had me spend more time with the elderly and I am richer for it!

Bill and I are currently working on a presentation, Preparation For Aging Parents:  What We Wish We Had Known.  13 years ago we suddenly lost Bill's dad, 12 years ago we quickly lost my dad,  8 years ago we started a long good-bye to Bill's mother and a couple of weeks ago we moved my mother to a senior living facility.  Over the last 13 years, we have had to adjust to numerous changes that we never anticipated.

In this blog post, however, I don't want to share about the challenges of aging but rather the beauty of aging.  I have had the honor and privilege of dining with some amazing people in the last couple of weeks.  Listening to their stories, the heartaches and the joys of my new friends is the best history lesson I could ever hope for.

I met a man in his eighties that has recently buried his wife.  The gentle tears in his eyes brought tears to my eyes.  When one of his friends started sharing about how deeply he loved his wife and cared for her, his reply was, Isn't that what a man should do, take care of his wife? Those kind of men are fading too quickly in this world.

Then I had dinner with two ladies in their nineties.  I truly thought they were in their seventies and couldn't believe it when they told me how old they were.  They shared their joys and their heartaches over the last ninety years.  They survived The Depression, many wars, civil rights riots, and the loss of spouses, children and even grandchildren.

The beautiful part that is in their faces and in their hearts is how they talk about God.  They spoke of God with such reverence, respect and gratefulness.  They even spoke of the hard roads they have walked with respect because they knew they made them better people.  And the joys they shared, made them smile as though they were happening all over again.

To top it all off, I watched a beautiful movie last night about two elderly people, played by Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer, falling in love.  Elsa and Fred shows the beauty in the face and the heart!