I know what you mean about getting our kids to see everyone as having a piece of the truth. Mine still tend to put people in boxes. ANd truth be know, I often go there first in my mind, then have to remove them immediately because I'm training myself NOT to do that. I must be patient with my kids...and quite frankly, have learned a few lessons from them when it comes to this...especially my youngest two. They have friends from many walks of life, and I love that about them.

The older I get, the more diverse my group of friends become...and it has added so much depth to my life.

[ May 18, 2006, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

I don't intentionally put myself into social situations, but because of all of the recent graduation parties I've had to. It was kind of fun. I've enjoyed visiting with people whom I haven't visited with for awhile. It kinda seems like we've all grown up. Maybe it's me, but everyone seems more accepting and more open, down to earth. We are all in the same boat now, with kids leaving and I think we all sympathize with and for each other and feel like we need each other again. Or I'm feeling like I need them.

downdog, that whole thing about being more accepting of one another is one of my favorite parts of growing older. I think we are judging one another less and looking at our similarities instead of our differences.

Priorities....they change as we grow, as we mature. What was important in our twenties doesn't seem that important NOW. Thank goodness.

I will never forget the time when I realized that my parents DID have brains, and that they DID know what they were talking about. It was a revelation. I can still recall the feeling of admiration that overcame me when I had this profound insight.

JJ

Don't you all think too that after we have become mature adults ourselves, we understand whats really important in life and what our parents have been talking about all this time?

[ May 23, 2006, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

We never thought that we'd be saying the same things as our parents did, or think the same way as they thought lol!

The older I get, the mroe respect I have for my elders. Wisdom certainly comes with age. The sad part is that the elderly are often ignored in our society.

You mean we're going to be ignored one day? We need to do something about this. Leave it to the boomers to change everything.

Yeah, that's hard to stomach. I don't want to be ignored. Especially when we begin to realize that on the inside we don't feel our age. What are we going to do? I, for one, am going to start thinking and treating the elderly with more respect, not that I'm ever mean, but I do tend to look at them as old and not look at the person. I can only hope that what goes around comes around. But I'm up for any other suggestions!

I had a rude awakening once while visiting an elderly woman from our church. She was residing in a retirement community. My thoughts on her prior to visiting was that she was old and it would probably be a boring visit. How rude, but honest thoughts.

I found her to be one of the most interesting women I'd ever met. She proceeded to tell me about her job as a teacher, her children, grandchildren, vacations, involvment in the chruch, etc. She was so interesting. I found myself believing she was once the lively person that I was. It was the first time I thought about myself living in such a place after having lived a full life. We forget all they've lived through. The older I get, the more respect I have for the elderly. Also, the more I want to be around them because they are so wise.

Absolutely! We already have many interesting stories to tell. How many more will we have in 20 years, and who will listen. I do not have an inate desire to serve the elderly, and this has made me ponder - why? So I think maybe this is where I need to concentrate my services, I need to learn more about this aging process and who better to learn it from then the wise ones who are there. And again I want to say I hope that if I do this "what goes around comes around". (Selfish gains strike again!).