Grandparents, what would we do without them? They help raise us, take care of us when our parents aren’t there, slide us that extra $1-$20 when our parents won’t give it to us, and for a lot of us- were practically our second parents (even when our real parents were around.) However, we have to face facts, we’re getting older and they’re not getting any younger and before we know it…they’ll be gone. That’s why while we still have time to spare, we should spend some of it with them. A lot of elderly people really just want someone to keep them company because usually when their families get older they are often forgotten. So maybe it’s time to spend some time with the old folks before its too late.
About a week ago, me and the rest of Her Campus Molloy, decided to do a team bonding exercise/community service event by going to a nursing home to spend time with the elderly people there. While I was there I talked to a person named Hal, he was well…old, but he was a good person with a great sense of humor. He told me about where he grew up in Brooklyn, stories from his younger days, and what it’s like living in a nursing home. But when he began to talk about his family the stories actually became really sad, he said that his two sons live in California and he doesn’t get to see them much, or at all really. Since they have they had their own families, they didn’t have too much time for him anymore (if that doesn’t break your heart I don’t know what will). Hal didn’t seem too sad about it, almost as if he had grown used to it, but to me, it just seemed sad. Coming from a big family where my maternal grandmother was, and still is a huge part of my life, it’s sad to see someone just forget about their dad/grandpa like that. (Fun Fact! Did you know that September 10th is National Grandparents Day!?)
We met a lot of elderly people at the nursing home, some had a lot of much energy and spirit for their age (especially this one guy named Andy, he was a 100-year-old, potty-mouthed, angry grandpa who just wanted to be left alone….he was awesome)! But a lot of them had the same story- their families had moved on with their lives and when the elderly started to slow them down, they just put them in a nursing home and never looked back (seriously if you’re not tearing up at this point or at least feeling some kind of sadness, you have no soul). Look I know that we’re all in a rush to move on with our lives, but in doing so we can’t forget those who took their time to help us through them, whether we are close to our grandparents or not. Family is family, and we should try to spend as much time with them as we can. If this still doesn’t convince you, look at it this way, for us the clock is ticking, we still have a whole world out there to explore, but for them, time is almost up they’ve already lived their lives. The least you could do is be with them through the final steps of it. Remember you never know what you have….until it’s gone.