We As Adult Children Must Show Compassion and Have Patience With Our Senior Adult Parents

The story that I am going to share with you in this post touched me so much that I have shared it on all of my podcast platforms and decided to share it in this blog format too.  I know that people receive information in different ways so I am providing it auditorily in my podcasts and visually in this blog. Maybe the story touched me so much because my mom is eighty-two years old. Maybe it touched me because her sight is not as good as it used to be. Maybe it touched me because her hearing is not as good as it used to be and maybe just maybe it touched me because her hands are not as steady as they once were. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older.

What I think got me the most though was....................(I won't share that here, I'll share the story and let you decide what moves you.)  The story below is from a book written by Robin Sharma titled THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI. 

"There was once a feeble old woman whose loving husband died. So she went to live with her son and his wife and daughter. Every day, the woman's sight grew worse and her hearing grew worse. Some days her hands trembled so badly the peas on her plate rolled onto the floor and the soup ran from her cup. Her son and wife couldn't help but be annoyed at the mess she made and one day they said enough was enough. So they set up a little table for the old woman in a corner next to the broom closet and made her eat all of her meals there, alone. She would look at them at mealtimes with tear-filled eyes from across the room, but they hardly talked to her while they ate, except to scold her for dropping a spoon or fork.

One evening, just before dinner, the little girl was sitting on the floor playing with her building blocks. What are you making? her father asked earnestly. I'm building a little table for you and mother she said, so you can eat by yourselves in the corner someday when I get big. The father and mother were moved to silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then they started to weep. In that instant they became aware of the nature of their actions and the sadness they had caused. That night they led the old woman back to her rightful place at their big dinner table and from that day on she ate all her meals with them. And when a little morsel of food fell off the table or a fork strayed onto the floor, nobody seemed to mind anymore." 

The moral of the story: Compassion and daily acts of kindness make life far richer. Something to think about. 

The Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often Podcast