Ever wondered what it’s like to be ‘very’ old?
By Jack Wilcox AM
HERE is a short answer.
When you wake up in the morning, no matter how bad you feel, that is as good as it’s going to get. But it beats the alternative of not waking up.
The genesis of this column is my belief that there is a communication gap between the older generation and the rest of society. I believe that the elderly have sensitivities and challenges that the rest of society does not comprehend.
Full of confidence that the sun will rise tomorrow (although the Commonwealth statistician tells me I am seven years past my used-by date) this column will be produced on a regular basis. It will include extracts from a treasure chest, the memories of people whose life journey has led them to a retirement village, in Maleny.
In my own life, I have been blessed with good health. But time has caught up with me.
I have spent the last 20 years writing books – seven of them, with most of them about the history of this part of the world. Not anymore. Macular degeneration has put a stop to that.
I have also lost most of my hearing. The combination of sight and hearing has taken a bit off my social life, particularly in noisy restaurants. But there are compensations.
When I was young, my parents impressed upon me the fable of the three wise monkeys –speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil.
I had my share of struggles against the temptations of life but at 92, I have finally met the demands of two of those monkeys.
I will finish this first column with a distant poignant memory of my mother.
In her late eighties, my mother was an independent lady, proud of her appearance. She started to lose her hair and bought a wig. She loved the wig. She fell down the steps at Kogarah railway station her bag and wig spread all over the ground.
People rushed around her, picking up her belongings. A young man picked up the wig (he didn’t know what it was.) ‘Is this yours?’ he said. My mother said ‘No’. He threw it into a rubbish bin.
My mother told me it was like a dagger in her heart to say ‘No’. But she thought he would laugh at her. Of course the young man did not know of the sensitivity of the situation, but it is a classic case of an unwitting hurt on an old lady.
In the next column, there will be a delightful memory from Margaret Ingham about a recent adventure.
That’s it from me. Other stories next time.