Looking out: Smiles, age and wisdom
By Brandon Astor Jones
"Everyone has been a child. All can understand through muffled memory how childhood was. But none has been old except those who are that now." — Bert Kruger Smith
I am seeking help from those who realise that if it were not for the labours and struggles of our sisters and brothers who have gone before us, we would have to do the work that they have done already in every field of endeavour. Now if you are one of the misguided men or women who thinks we treat our older folk just fine, there is no point in reading the rest of this column or the quotes that follow.
"Life is a country that the old have seen, and lived in. Those who have to travel through it can only learn from them." — Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
"To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living." — Henri Frederic Amiel (1812-1881)
"Forty is the old age of youth, fifty the youth of old age." — Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
"As soon as a man [or woman] acquires fairly good sense, it is said [s]he is an old fogy." — Ed Howe
"Growing old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative." — Maurice Chevalier
"It is this very awareness that one is no longer an attractive object that makes life so unbearable for so many elderly people." — Simone de Beauvoir
"Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk." — George MacDonald
I have shared these thoughts from the past with you in the hope that if you know of an elderly person you will be moved to take a moment to go see about them; and once with them, share your youthful smile with them. If you cannot go to see them, then write a letter (not a fax) expressing your gratitude for all of the good work they have done (indeed, that for their having done it, you are free to your leisure).
Don't tell me, and certainly not yourself, that you do not have the time. Remember, it is quite possible that if those elderly people did not do what they did long ago, you might not even be here today.
My dear friend is very ill, and unlike many of you, I cannot go to see her. She has treated me like a son for as long as I have known her. If you would be kind enough to send her a cheerful note, I would be very grateful; and I can assure you that when you reach old age it will be a place where you can reside with pride and in the grace of your youthful deeds.
She is a wonderful human being. If you are fortunate enough to live near her, please pay her a friendly visit. You will be glad that you did. Tell her that we love her and appreciate all the good things she has done for us, so that she can share the smile of age and wisdom with you. Her name and address are:
Ms Nancy Wills, 229 White Road, Lota Qld 4179.[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He is happy to receive letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, GD&CC, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]