Life Cycle

Was walking on my way to work this morning when I saw a mother pushing her baby in a pram.. and behind her, a lady was pushing her mother in a wheelchair.

What a scene.. such contrast! It really got me thinking... How amazing is nature! Where everything is goes a full circle. I'm fondly reminded of a email article I had read previously..

On the day you see us old, weak and weary...
Have patience and try to understand us.

If we get dirty while eating..
If we cannot dress on our own...
Please bear with us and
Remember the times we spent
Feeding and dressing you up

If, when we speak to you
We repeat the same things
Over and over again...
Do not interrupt us.. listen to us
When you were small,
We had to read to you
The same story a thousand and one times
Untill you went to sleep.

When we do not want to have a shower,
Neither shame nor scold us...
Remember when we had to chase you
With your thousand excuses
To get you to shower?

When you see our ignorance of new technologies...
Help us navigate our way through those worldwidewebs.
Remember how we taught you to do so many things...
To eat the right foods, to dress approriately
To fight for your rights...

When at some moments we lose the memory or
The tread of our conversation..
Let us have the neccessary time to remember..
And if we cannot, do not become nervous..
As the most important thing is not our conversation
But surely to be with you and
To have you listening to us.

If ever we do not feel like eating,
Do not force us.
We know well when we need to and when not to eat.

When our tired legs give way and
Do not allow us to walk without a cane...
Lend us your hand,
The same way we did
When you tried your first faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you,
That we do not want to live anymore,
That we want to die.
Do not get angry.
Someday you will understand.

Try to understand that our age is not just lived
But survived.
Someday you willrealize that,
Despite our mistakes,
We always wanted the best for you
And we tried to prepare the way for you.

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed
For having us near you. Instead try to understand
Us and help us like we did when you were young.


What a beautiful passage! Many times in our busy life, in our pursuit of success.. we get blinded by stress & tiredness, often fustrated by the tinyest detail. And often realisation tends to come too late when our parents are long gone and we had arrive at our parents' senior years with kids our current age.

Hmm. think I'll take my parents out for a movie one day.. the same way they often took me for a movie when I was a kid.