My great grandmother cannot respond to her name if you don't include her late husband's name. This is what I mean, if her name is Njoki and her late husband was called Peter (which translates to Fita in her language) she will only respond if you call her Njoki wa Fita. She is even more likely to respond to Fita than to Njoki and when she does she will correct you to Njoki wa Fita. When I think that someday I will not be Christine until you include my husband's name, I lack strength.
Have you thought of your old self? Like ageing kind of old. Do you still have teeth? Can you still see or hear? Is your memory intact? Are you one of those old and angry people mad at everyone and everything? Can you stand straight or you need a walking stick? Uliomoka finally? Did you eventually meet your better half?
Well, I picture myself resting. Happy with the life I lived. Probably married for years to a vibrant man that I grew old with. Maybe both of us will have memory loss and questions like, 'Babe (or whatever old couples call each other) tumeoga leo?' Or 'Babe umeona meno yangu?' will be common. I see me and my person laughing at each other after looking for our legs only to see them pope out the sheets. My great grandmother does that a lot! When she stands up to look for her legs and then sees them, she laughs at herself and then we all laugh with her.
Being around my great-grandma has taught me several things. One, I am not going to be young and energetic forever and neither will you. Unfortunately, a time will come when you will try to stand up five times before you actually stand up. Now because you can probably jump out of bed, do it. Do everything you've wanted to do while you still can. Go bungee jump, dive deep in the sea, hike that mountain, start that business, sign up for that marathon. Just do whatever you have always wanted to do while you still can.
Secondly, I cannot avoid growing old but I can do something to ensure I do it well. I mean to say, I can take care of my body now by having healthy habits that will help me later on like working out and eating healthy to avoid lifestyle diseases and conditions.
Thirdly, and most important one, don't just live for yourself. Do something good for others. When you start forgetting things, your memory lives through those you interacted with. It would be really sad if they don't have anything good to say about you.
When I am old I want to know that I gave everything I had to give. I want to know I did everything I ever wanted to do. I want to know I loved as much as I could. I want to sit and reminisce about the things I did, the good, the risky and the unnecessary and be at peace. I want to know I didn't just live for myself. I want to see my children and their children and their children and their children, you know as much as they say it in the song The Blessing by Kari Jobes.
How do you see your old self? What do you want to look back at? What are you doing now to get you there?
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