OK, so when I say old, I mean really old. My dearest friend is 98 years old and well on her way to 100 we believe. We met 15 years years ago when I was cleaning houses as a new college student. She called me to clean her house, but first served me cookies and coffee and that day we became friends. We have drunk more cups of coffee together than I can count and through the years our friendship has developed into something so special. There really are no words to describe how I feel about Grace. We may not share the same blood, but she is family.
I don't know why, but I have always loved old people. When I was in kindergarten my class adopted grandparents from a local nursing home. My adopted Grandma Hollitz became very special to me and I continued to visit her into my teenage years until she passed away.
Through the years there have been many older folks that have come in and out of my life, and all have managed to get a piece of my heart. I have sat and listened to countless stories of years gone by, grown children, and grandchildren. I have had the opportunity to sit and hold the hands of those whose lives are nearing the end and through it all I have become a better person. I have come to realize that there is something so special about these people that have seen so much life and now have taken the time to share their memories with me. One of the greatest blessing I have found is that many of my old friends love Jesus. They have known Him a very long time and have such a testimony of His goodness and faithfulness.
As my own children have been born I have had the joy of seeing the pleasure that children bring to the elderly. They are content to just sit and watch them play. My children in turn have come to love my old friends as I do. They really don't think of them as old people, but are quite fascinated with the years they have been around and the history they have lived through.
Just when I think that I am blessed to have had the pleasure to call so many friends, God sends me another. And my newest friend is what has prompted me to write about this. Two streets down from me lives a 95 year old woman, whom my 8 year old son has come to adore. He is my history buff and his newest friend loves to talk history. He will sit at her feet for hours listening and asking questions. And she is thrilled to answer. We have given her purpose and value and she in turn has given us someone new to love and cherish. I visted with her today as she is in bed recovering from a broken back. She just sat and held my hand, her face all smile as she looked at the boys and asked them about cubscouts and told us of days gone by when she herslf was a cubscout den mother.
This is so import in the lives of our children. My mom always says that having many people to love your children is a gift. As my children grow, they are experiencing the beauty of what God talks about in Titus 2, the older women teaching the younger. These women have lived good lives; they loved their husbands and stood by them until death. They have loved God and grown in His Word for more years than I have been alive and they are passing on that love to my children during each visit.
Is there and older person you know that could use your friendship? Do not pass up the opportunity to have this blessing in your life. It is incredible.
I will miss Grace when she is gone, but I thank God for the time we have had together. She is my kindred spirit and I can't imagine life without her spunk, her smile, her love and encouragement. But I know that because of Jesus we will meet again in Glory, Praise be to God!
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