A FRIEND suffers from the discomfort of varicose veins. Those similarly situated should not consider varicose as a curse but rather view it as representation of long hours of being on their feet. It means they were not sitting around while some hired “yaya” was taking care of their children. They were a “hands-on” mom. The varicose legs are a result of household routine: cleaning, doing errands here and there, marketing and preparing meals for the family for years.
Those wrinkled hands were the working hands helping their husbands earn a living. Some were assisting their parents finance the education of their siblings. Those lines on their forehead represent the times when they were worried when challenges came and when safety threatened their immediate and extended members of the family.
Eye bags are there because of sleepless nights when they felt sick, depressed, abandoned and old. As one senior citizen puts it: “Life is still worth living. After all, we have our picture albums to prove that life was wonderful. I believe life will continue to give us surprises. Never mind the eye bags.”
Living is not an easy concession to be able to achieve goals in life. Living requires order and organization. Living is in itself a commitment to strive to enjoy what life has to offer. It may sound like a cliche but living is bigger than life itself. Life is how you live it. It is when living becomes a survival that we know some resolve if not adjustments have to be made.
While we are still able, we must set aside money for old age. Our adult children’s priority shifts from parents to their own children and wives when they get married. In other words, we have to live by ourselves outside the perimeters of their established abode. Traditionally, parents were welcomed to stay with their children even if they were already married. Nowadays, there exist homes for “assisted living.” These are facilities where aging parents could stay if they can afford board and lodging. Some senior citizens suffer from separation anxiety but do they have a choice? They just have to accept the fact that some of our traditions and culture are changing.
Grandparents who continue to live with the families of their children are there for two reasons: One is expediency; they are tasked to take care of their grandchildren while the parents are working abroad. Two, the married children cannot afford to have houses of their own so they live in the ancestral home.