The "Forgotten Generation"

There is a great deal of talk in the media, of all venues, about the different generations and their issues. There is one generation that can not speak out to the same degree and scale, mostly because they are in a world of their own within their minds and can not speak for themselves in person, let alone via the Internet and it's social media tools. This generation is the elderly. This is not necessarily senior citizens who may be active and capable of caring for themselves or able to live independently. This is the generation of elderly who are slipping away from our world and our lives just because they are beyond caring for themselves. This is most likely due to various forms of Dementia, of which Alzheimer's Disease is the most prevalent. These are the elderly who are either in a nursing home facility or being taken care of, 24 hours a day by a caregiver(s).

Age and growing old is about the most feared aspect of everyone. It is not only feared but because it seemingly takes so long to become "old", it is not even thought of. Growing old is a phrase thought of by the very young as "grandparent". As youth begins to mature, it starts to become more and more "forgotten" as if someoneout there takes care of those old people or perhaps they are just too grumpy to deal with. Although this is indeed, harsh treatment, it IS the way of life and things. Most species on this earth tend to lose sight or support of the oldest of it's own kind. Humans have morals, cultures and laws that for the most part, insure that the elderly are cared for. The issue becomes the degree of that care!

In our Western culture and current times, younger generations are really just so bogged down with their fast paced, hectic and stressed lifestyles, that it just becomes a fact that more stress only compounds all the issues of their lives. The elderly, although most certainly, are thought of and cared for, the degree of that care is generally lost and forgotten in our fast paced world. Today, as communications and global interaction become increasingly the "topic of the day" it becomes more necessary that some of us need to watch out and speak out for the elderly. They get lost in the shuffle. Just as an Alzheimer's victim sits in a nursing home, in a wheelchair and stares endlessly into space or hangs their head in daytime slumber from boredom, the world keeps spinning around.

Yes, life does go on. The old die and the young are born again. There is one huge BUT, in this fact of life and that is that these elderly are still here! They still need resources, caregivers, medical care, government funding, research and disease cures. They still need a voice!

As you perhaps find and read this article, take just a moment to think of someone in your family or someone you know who is elder and part of the "forgotten generation". Think about how much work they did for all of those years, day after day, thinking of their families. Whether your experience was with a parent or grandparent who was a loving, caring person or not, there still are many who were and they still are sitting in that wheelchair, staring out that window, in that nursing home..who need someone to think of them, visit them, tell their congressional and state representatives about them and that they need MORE support and funding.

IF we speak out for our elderly now....perhaps someone will do the same for us...