Problems of the elderly

Loneliss – man’s greatest fear

Lately I had the opportunity to meet an elderly couple whom I had known since I was young. They are in their eighties and staying all by themselves.

In my conversation with them I realized they have great fear of loneliness. They have everything they need – house, food, and clothing. All they long for is the company of children, grandchildren and friends. This is what they had to say:

“When you grow old nobody cares for you. You are forgotten even by your children. Every now and then I have to make spot checks to find out if all is well with my wife. Every morning I thank the good God for sparing her life for that day”.

I was very touched by the love and care the elderly gentleman had for his sickly wife of 60 years. He has cherished and preserved his sacred matrimonial wows faithfully all these years in good and hard times. This virtue of fidelity is a rare commodity nowadays where divorce is becoming the norm.

This fear of loneliness is not peculiar to this couple. I realize that many other elderly couples also share similar sentiments. The strange thing is that this fear is also a feature when we were children. As a child when we were fearful to be alone, our parents were there to console and reassure us. They did that willingly and with great love and passion.

But when they are in living in fear at the twilight of their lives, we as children are not there to comfort them. We are too busy with our jobs and families. We blame the fast moving and competitive society we live in.

It is true that life has become highly competitive these days and we have to spend a large part of our energy and time to make ends meet. At the same time we have to also give some importance to two great virtues called gratitude and sacrifice, only them can we can justify calling ourselves human.

Dr.Chris Anthony