My Aunt Norma died this past Saturday. Even though her body failed on that day, she left us some time ago; age can do incredibly cruel things to the mind. Even her husband, my Uncle Jimmy, told my dad that it was a merciful thing that she went when she did. They were married 56 years.
Jimmy and Norma are members of what Tom Brokaw term the Greatest Generation. Jimmy was in the Navy during the Second World War. He came home, got a job and a few years later married his girlfriend. He worked for General Electric for 37 years as a machinist. It was a different time, an age where a man expected his job to be there for the rest of his working days.
All my aunts and uncles, with one exception, are in their 70's or 80's now. Statistically speaking, I will lose all of them in the next 10 or so years, including my parents. I don't know when or how they got old. When I was a kid, they were permanent, non-aging, and smart to boot. Frailty has set in now; it seems as if it happened overnight. My dad sometimes forgets things he used to know cold. He can't work out in the yard for 14 hours anymore, something that I can't do now at 37.
Through it all, my parents and aunts and uncles maintain a proper bearing, as if they are ready to meet their maker with dignity and faith. I know they are not preoccupied with death, but it must linger in their minds. I just hope my generation is as dignified as they are when we have more years behind us than ahead.
Posted by Matthew at June 11, 2008 09:12 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Very sorry to hear that. My grandfather passed earlier this year. I would like to say it was with dignity, but I think the real dignity was that he couldn't see how "bad" he'd gotten at the end. He would've hated to see how much of his mind had deserted him.
I, too, hope that our generations can manage to be as dignified about life, and it's inevitable conclusion, as we grow older.
Posted by: Jayne at June 12, 2008 06:15 PM