From a young age, my siblings and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. My mom and dad worked full time, so my grandma came to see us off to school in the morning and stayed with us until my parents got home at 6. She jammed out to The Beach Boys, loved to go look at fancy jewelry at her not-so-secret jewelry store, and quoted her mother's proverbs daily. She sees her way through life in a positive way, and being around her all the time taught me to be who I am today. When I wasn't with her, I was in my parent's hometown spending time with my mom's grandpa. My Pa was my best friend. He was the kindest, most Jesus loving man I'd ever met and he taught me how to be just like him. He accepted me for me and used his life experience to teach me lessons I needed to learn.
With age comes wisdom, and life experience. I have so much respect for our older generations. I love listening to stories and little anecdotes from seniors' lives because they show a life was well lived. Once I hear a story, I can put together the storytellers life in my head. It helps me puzzle out how that person became who they are, and why they do or say certain things. Hearing about their stories helps me make informed decisions in my own life, and I value those life lessons a lot.
Being a part of the Elderly Embrace Care Network has opened my eyes to the different things our seniors face everyday. From mental health issues to physical disease, they're tenacious and continue to fight to see another day. I truly admire them for that.
I think more people my age should be interested in what seniors have to say, and educate themselves about the different things that happen to them. There are so many things to learn about and from our seniors and the Elderly Embrace Care Network is helping their be told.
The EECN is definitely helping to bridge the gap between the generations, and it's such a pleasure to write for them.
Reagan Means