By Femi Harris
October has been designated as the month of the elderly and Stabroek News this week caught up with a few of Guyana’s senior citizens to have a chat. This is what these old folks had to say about their lives and their shared words of advice:
Anil Khan, resident of the Dharm Shala
For 50-year-old Anil, the opportunity of being granted life every day is cause enough to find the strength to pull through even when weakness seems the dominating force. He has suffered from Parkinson’s Disease almost all of his life and related that life has always been a challenge but was quick to add that he prefers to be humbled by the gift of life.
The well-spoken Khan said, “I can choose to complain about all the things that bother me or just look around and be amazed and thankful for all the things that we take for granted.” According to Khan, “though things could have been better, they likewise could have been worse also.”
When asked about life now compared to yesteryear, the former Alberttown resident said that though change is an inevitable feature of life, he would have preferred to live in the Guyana he used to know as opposed to what it has become now.
He said that persons should above all, always be thankful for being afforded the breath of life. “It is priceless, and not until you are placed in a situation where your life begins to pine away do you realise how important it is to be thankful for the smallest things in life.”
Khan’s one wish is that persons would treat the elderly with love and respect. He reminisced that in years gone by, people were far more helpful to the elderly and wished that persons today can perpetuate the same behaviour.
Iris Brewster, resident of the Dharm Shala
At 90-years-old, the soft and well-spoken Iris Brewster has a sharp memory. Resident of the Dharm Shala for over 20 years, Iris said that she is living only for her God and is thankful for each day with which she is blessed. As she puts it, “being loaned the breath of life on a daily basis is like having a new lease on life itself.”
Brewster said that sometimes, it is only when age, aches, pains and all the other challenges of life begin to catch up with folks, that they realise how much the little things in life really matter and how much they are so often taken for granted.
In encouraging persons to be thankful for each blessing and to live each day meaningfully, the senior citizen who is completely blind and suffers from hypertension, heart problems and low blood sugar said that she could have been deaf and dumb also and concluded that there is therefore still much to be thankful for.
The little lady said that at times, in order to remind ourselves of how well off we still are, we should try to imagine our lives without some of the basic amenities.
According to Brewster, not much is being done for the senior citizens of Guyana and she is appealing to those in authority to take the well-being of seniors into greater consideration.
Joan Cole, resident of the Uncle Eddie’s Home
A jovial 80-year-old Joan Cole who has been a resident of the Uncle Eddie’s home for the past eight months said that persons should “take life and living seriously before it is too late.
“I have a number of regrets, but now is not the time for me to deal with that. I have already lived my life and I feel as if my role as a person now is to help guide the younger generation in whatever way I can so that they don’t make the same mistakes I once made.”
The former Buxton resident said she is pleased that there is a special month set aside to remember the older folks but emphasised that more should be done on a more regular basis to cater for their needs.
She said that though health care services are free, access to those services can sometimes prove problematic for senior citizens who live alone and who are less fortunate.
Cole who is partially blind, said she has now reached a point where she has accepted life for what it is and now takes, “each day, one day at a time.”
