Alone…

I am sitting in my kitchen, typing on my laptop.  The sun is casting beautiful shadows on my deck, and the still of the morning is wondrous.  The icy snow is still.  The trees are still.  The blue sky is interrupted only by a lone bird here and there.

I am alone in my home.  It is still.

This is rare.  I work from home with Audrey and Jane.  My grandchildren are more-than-frequent little visitors. I often have my mom here after her appointments and as often as we can for Sunday afternoon dinners.   And Barry and I are almost always together…

On this day, this Saturday morning, I am alone.  I don’t mind being alone.  I don’t mind quiet.  I embrace the stillness and the wonder of it.  But I know why… and this is because I have the ability to control it.  The stillness today is extraordinary because it is not my ordinary.   The hiss of my radiators and the hum of my coffee pot and the click of my fingers is welcomed and safe.  But to have NO control over the stillness, the aloneness, the ordinariness of it would be overwhelming to me without its infrequency.

My mom lives in a senior housing complex a few minutes from my home.  She lives alone among 400 other senior citizens.  I visit my mom 3-4 times a week.  I bring her most of her lunches and dinners.  She has never loved to cook (although she really was a pretty good cook at one time!).  She is excellent at breakfast…  pouring herself a bowl of Raisin Bran, slicing a banana over it and pouring on a bit of 1% milk!   She has access to a senior citizen bus that brings the seniors to a Senior Complex where exercise classes, art lessons, a little library, a cafeteria, etc. are available.  And this same bus service offers grocery shopping runs.

But many of these elderly people spend a great deal of time alone.  Not by choice.  The stillness to them isn’t the twinkling ice and majestic trees, or the lone squawk of a seagull circling the harbor for food.  The stillness is deafening. There are no footsteps leading to their doors or a warm cup of tea being brewed by a loved one in the kitchen.  There is no phone ringing or messages dinging from the computer.  There is no-one to help button the top button on that pesky old coat or zip up the front of the boots.

The sound of the zipper would be wondrous to that elderly person if it had a loving hand attached to it.  The whistling of the tea kettle would be music.  The ringing of the phone would be an entire orchestra.  The footsteps are life.  LIFE.

If you do nothing else this weekend, please interrupt a few still moments in the life of an elderly person in your life. Your voice penetrating the stillness will be a miracle…

Please.

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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7 Comments

  1. 1.17.09
    Emily said:

    I’m going to call my grandparents right now. Thanks for the reminder.

  2. 1.17.09
    Chrissy said:

    That’s beautiful, Sharon. It is much the same in the senior living center where my grandmother lives, and even more so in the nursing home where my grandfather was. Whenever I’m in NJ, we always bake cookies, go for a visit, and stop and talk to everyone we meet. Even a simple hello and how are you means so much – both to them and to us. It truly is life. And how soon those moments pass us by.

  3. 1.18.09

    This is beautiful. I’m calling my husband’s gramma this morning.

  4. 1.18.09
    Nadine said:

    That was said so well Sharon. I love the elderly because they are such a rich source of life. I love calling my mom and talking to her. She lives with my sister.

  5. 1.19.09

    Oh Sharon, I read this late and would you believe I did just that this weekend? This post is the most beautiful post and oh so true. Would you believe, our pipes froze up behind our washer in the utility room, so I took my laundry over to my parents house a few miles away and they were thrilled to have someone besides the t.v. talk to them. They were so lonely and I thought to myself, I hope when I reach their age, I don’t have to experience this. You are such a good daughter and I can so relate to where you are coming from. You are my favorite Author! When I see you in Chicago at Blogher, can I have your autograph?

  6. 1.21.09
    Dottie said:

    Just found your blog today!You sound like someone I’d like to keep reading. Please visit my blog, I write mostly old memories but occassionly short stories as well.

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