Foundation For Senior Living
&
Senior Living Properties
The foundation for senior living was a lot different when I was growing up. As a child, I thought retirement meant you got your own house and didn’t have to work anymore, at least, outside the home. You see, we had my grandmother, grandfather and my great grandfather living with us all during my childhood. We lived on a farm in the country on several acres of land; close enough to town for supplies, but far enough away to be called country.
As time passed, we built my grandparents their own little houses on our property. My grandmother lived in one with a couple of my aunts and uncles, both near my age, and still in school at the time. My two grandfathers lived in the other one; one blind, and the other very old and feeble. He lived to a ripe old age over 100, God bless his soul! And he was still walking, yodelling, and singing until the day he died. He loved his life, and he repeatedly rocked our world! This was what made senior retirement homes become a reality to us.
Life was good! This was the ultimate foundation for senior living for all of them; and it was especially nice for me, too, having them so close and able to do sleep- and eat-overs at will.
Best Softball Games Ever!
I loved when my aunts and uncles came to visit and brought my cousins. We had big dinners and everyone cooked, ate, played games, laughed a lot, danced to the sound of the old victrola, and enjoyed each other tremendously! We had some of the best softball games ever! It was pure joy for all. This was living it up personified, and the senior citizens led the way for us.
None of us had much financially, but this was living life at its finest, as far as I was concerned. We were one big happy family; and I don’t use the term “big” lightly. I am the oldest of more than 50 grandchildren, and I lost track of great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren when the count rose to over 100. Our family reunions were beyond huge. And our aging parents and senior citizens ruled the roost.
Our Aging Parents Rocked Our World!
If you were aged and elderly, you were treated like royalty by all, it didn't matter if you were related or not. You were held in revere just like our own, and this was our very own foundation for senior living. You were constantly hugged, kissed, played with, had a crowd listening to your stories. That’s how we loved our senior citizens, and they could tell the best stories ever told! They loved us that much right back.
I think the only thought of a different definition for foundation for senior living or a "dream" retirement to them was to make those moments last forever. We long for those times today still. My grandparents have long passed, the farm sold, the aunts, uncles, and cousins scattered from coast to coast, many in their own senior retirement homes now. Many of us are facing issues now with our own aging parents.
The only regret any of us have is that we waited to get together only for holidays. We should have met much more often, and all wish we had. The memories are replayed and relived almost on a daily basis in fond memories and stories still kept alive with wonderful mental pictures and small voices in our heads. Those memories are felt passionately in that special place in our hearts, and shared with anyone who will listen. We have our own stories. We are making our own memories. If we could extend and build that foundation for senior living, we certainly would be better for it.
One Of The Hardest Things Today
But things are different now. Life is different now. Both spouses of children of aging parents are now bread winners and most still work away from the home. Others are so involved socially, within the community, working toward a cause, supporting their young children in sports and music; that they, too, are crippled for time when it comes to helping aging parents and exploring the foundation for senior living communities. One of the hardest things today to deal with caring for aging parents is their nutrition.
We had the farm with cows, pigs, and chickens. We had a garden, fruit trees, and berries. We only had to walk out the door, cut some vegetables, gather some eggs, pull from a pantry full of canned products of the season past, to prepare a feast for a king. We chose from the protein assorted mixture of cuts in the freezer, from our own livestock of animals on the farm.
That foundation for senior living was simple, the meals were hearty, and more than enough for whomever wanted to stop by at mealtime for a visit; or for whomever might be sick and unable to prepare for themselves down the road or from the church, or for anyone down on their luck and needing a hot meal, a bath, and a warm bed. The welcome mat was always out. It is the true sense of the phrase "charity begins at home".
We Are The Sandwich Generation
Yes, things are much different today. We are the children of aging parents, and we are called the "sandwich generation". Gosh, what a horrible tag we have put on ourselves. Pulled between parents and children, feeling overwhelmed and stressed for more time for both, being a "super-parent" that "does it all", makes one wonder how we ever got where we are. Even more puzzling is how the heck are we supposed to know anything about any sort of foundation for senior living communities?
What can we learn about ourselves here today and how we feel about our aging parents, and how we treat them? Depressing, isn’t it? Not really, it should only make us a little more grateful for what we have, and humble us that we take so much for granted. Once we have peeled away the skin of the onion layers and get to the sweet spot, we all want better for our aging parents and our children growing up than what we had or what we can remember our grandparents had. We work hard toward the foundation for senior living.
So, you know what? Your grandparents were happy with their hard work; your children are happy with the “sandwich society” we have become; and it doesn’t matter if we aspire to provide the very best college money can buy for our children, or if what we seek is the most beautiful senior living properties as children of aging parents. Times change, people change, and needs change. You need only build your own foundation for senior living, then give it all you can give. That will be sufficient.
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