I am lucky enough to count among my friends many young people who are patient, considerate and compassionate and I am truly grateful to them for remaining a part of my life.
When I look back at my own behaviour as a young woman, I am sometimes ashamed but, where I didn't have patience, I hope I always had compassion. Of course, when you are young you cannot imagine that your elders were ever the same age as you or that, having lived longer, they might actually know more than you do.
Recently I was on the receiving end of some unkind behaviour by a young person and believe me, it wasn't a pleasant experience! Sadly, this person, too, will eventually realise that age has a habit of creeping up on us and one day you look in the mirror and there it is.
An author I discovered last year is Elizabeth Strout who writes well about ageing in her novel Olive Kitteridge :
"What young people didn't know, she thought, lying down beside this man, his hand on her shoulder, her arm; oh, what young people did not know. They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly, as if it were a tart on a platter with others that got passed around again."
6 comments:
When I think back I cringe at some of my behaviour! (And that's just last week!!)
Ah yes, who knew we would become old before our time!
It's the nature of youth, WCL. I had one too near an ASDA store. Not worth bothering much about really.
Haha! Me too, Liz - at mine! Who, indeed, Rosaria? Sadly you are right, James.
'Tis true...
Hi, Lee. Yes, it is.
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