I need to keep it short and sweet on today’s Microblog Monday, after my last post, which was not a microblog post, despite it being about Microblog Mondays.
I’ve broken away from my usual modern literature reading in the last month, to read some enjoyable and interesting non-fiction, including Hillary Clinton’s What Happened, Sheryl Sandberg’s Option B, and most recently, Sue Perkins’ Spectacles.
Some thoughts about aging, the first being the need to plan well in advance, and to make decisions before you think it is necessary, because by the time you need to have made some of these decisions, you’ll be much less capable of doing so.
Secondly, people often talk about maintaining dignity in old age, confusing it with pride, and implying that this is only possible when you are independent. However, I become more and more convinced that true dignity is being able to admit when you need help, and to accept that with grace.
The weather is warming nicely, and we’re all starting to be a bit hopeful that this year we might actually get a summer, after the disappointments of last year.
With spring well and truly here, with bright light earlier in the morning and later at night, the need for spring cleaning is becoming more and more obvious, and will need to be tackled soon.
I may not have cleaned, but I’m feeling quite smug that I only need to buy three more Christmas/birthday (thanks to my sister and a sister-in-law who both have birthdays on 20th December) presents before the end of the year.
I agree – you can maintain dignity AND get help when you need it.
Fingers crossed for a nice summer there!
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Good point that dignity does not necessarily equal independence & vice-versa. Hillary’s book is in my TBR pile (to be read), which continues to grow — while progress on my Goodreads challenge remains stuck in neutral…!
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My sisters and my Mum and I have all read Option B. It really helped us to make sense of the trauma of 2016. I’m waiting on What Happened to come in to the library (not surprisingly it has many, many holds on it).
A big yes to making decisions well in advance. But then you have to stick to those decisions when the time comes! My grandmother and mother had a deal- Mum would help however she could to allow Grannie to stay in her home but when she told Grannie it was time to move to a seniors’ residence, Grannie had to move. Great deal until Mum said it was time and Grannie flat out refused to leave her house. She is still there, now with 24/7 care, and she has missed the chance to build friendships and a community in a residence had she gone when it was the right time. Plus the whole thing has been hugely stressful for my mother (and, to a lesser degree her siblings, who do not live as close by and weren’t carrying as much of the burden of care before they started hiring people).
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This sounds so familiar! Especially “missed the chance to build friendships and a community in a residence had she gone when it was the right time.”
Also can relate to your mother carrying the burden of care.
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I so agree with your observation: “that true dignity is being able to admit when you need help, and to accept that with grace.”
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Thoughtful and brilliant. Thank you.
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