I’ve been doing a little midweek mental meandering as I finish polishing this coming Thursday’s chapter on leaving Moscow; and for some reason, I’ve been focused on the subject of obsolescence. Not the obsolescence of things — we all know what science and technology have wrought . . . and discarded. Just think of the gas lamp, dial phones, manual typewriters, clotheslines, gigantic boomboxes, the Blackberry, and the icebox. No, I’m talking about the obsolescence of people.

I always planned to age gracefully and beautifully, gradually becoming the matriarch of my little family — revered for my wisdom and accomplishments, feared for my authoritative nature, and loved for . . . well, just for being me. Or are matriarchs limited to wealthy, aristocratic English families, like the Crawleys of Downton Abbey? That’s certainly not my life.

Or maybe the other end of the economic spectrum: the Depression-era Waltons of the Blue Ridge Mountains? Enormous, wonderful family; dirt poor. Nope, not me either.

So, no matriarchy for me.

The Japanese revere their elderly. So do the Chinese, Koreans, Native Americans, and many others. So maybe I should move to Japan and get myself adopted by a lovely family there. Not practical, but worth considering.

Yet what about the rest of us here in the United States? When did we become a nation that values the foolishness of youth above the knowledge and wisdom of experience? Why do we push people into retirement at 65, when they still have so much to contribute? When did those beautiful grandparents become an annoyance to be shuffled off to an old folks’ home where they live out their days thinking about the past because they have no future, and no present worth living?

Whether your “grands” are the stern-faced couple from the American heartland, or the sweet, rosy-cheeked Babushka and Dyedushka from the old country . . . treasure them. They’ve spent their lives caring for their children (your parents, aunts and uncles), and spoiling you, your siblings and cousins. Give them back the love and respect they deserve while they’re still here. They’ll be gone all too soon.

Just saying . . .

Brendochka
5/8/23