Only a Senior Knows How a Senior Thinks

I can think like a senior because I am a senior and only a senior knows how a senior thinks. I do not merely write about how it feels to walk in the shoes of a senior, I know how painful shoes can be because I have arthritis in my toes that makes my feet hurt, and my shoes no longer fit. When I talk about being a senior, I mean the actual retirement senior age of 65 and up and not the 55+ age that AARP created so they could increase their membership and get more fees.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and lay in bed and think. I wonder about who will take care of me if I get sick and I am unable to care for myself. I gaze at my cat cuddled up like a ball sleeping next to me. I worry about who will feed her if I get sick and unable to care for her as well.

Then I think that maybe I should sell my house and move closer to my daughter in case I got sick and could not take care of myself. I think about the pros and cons about making such a move because Only a senior knows how a senior thinks. Sometimes tears come to my eyes and I think, "if only my husband had lived everything would be OK". Only a senior knows how a senior thinks and tears do not help because he died many years ago.

People are living longer, and women are outliving the men. This is where the senior care problem begins. Men die younger and the women grow old alone and have no one to care for them when they get sick.

So what is the solution? Where does the help come from, and who shall the old turn to when they themselves need health-care? The young offer solutions but they really do not know because only a senior knows how a senior thinks.

I read many articles that are written by the young who offer advice about how to care for a senior when they get sick. The young might wonder about it, read about it and offer a senior some helpful advice. But only seniors- both men and women- who are left to live alone by the death of a spouse can think about who will take care of them if they get too sick to care for themselves?

The following might be the advice given to aging seniors by those who are young. While it sounds like each idea might work, remember that only a senior knows how a senior thinks. The concerns and responses are how I, as a senior think.

1, Call a friend: This could be a great idea assuming that your friends are still alive, live nearby and are not sick themselves and also need care.

2. Contact a Senior Care Agency: This sounds like a logical solution until you telephone a few agencies and are told about the high hourly rates that they charge for in-home-nursing or homemaking care.

3. Get in Touch with Your Church: This also could be a good idea but will only work if one belongs to a church and if the church has caregivers that volunteer to help.

4. Move to a Senior Residence: This idea sounds better than it actually is. The purchase price for an apartment is extremely costly and It is not refundable if you want to move or if you should die. They do not allow pets so you would have to get rid of your cat. You can select to have breakfast and dinner in the dining room but it does not come free. You can opt to have your apartment cleaned and beds changed also for a fee. Food and services do not come with the purchase price of your apartment.

Those who have not as yet reached their senior years think of getting old as the time to begin a new life. And they could be right if they had saved and invested their money while they were young. Others who have experienced the death of their spouse and now themselves are old worry about who will take care of them when they get sick.

I am in my late senior years and still have not figured out who will take care of me if I get sick. Maybe I will just wither away from old age and quietly and peacefully die.

Life is a Journey - it has a beginning and an end.
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