THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND

I remember questioning my mother about some of the quirky things she did in life and her response back to me was straightforward and simplistic,

“Young people will never fully understand us older people until they walk in our shoes!”

I got her drift, yet basically thought it was just another cliché that senior citizens use. I heard them all the time from aged family and friends. Nowadays, after finally walking in an older person’s shoes, I totally understand what she and others meant.

My wife and I have basically put our lives on hold for our aging Pekingese dog, Simon. We’ve been questioned about such, but those younger people doing the questioning seem to have a different grasp of the word, commitment.

Just like children, pets are dependent on their owners in more ways than just sliding a bowl of water and food under their noses. One of those areas is being sensitive to their needs when they too get older. A true pet lover will understand what I’m saying here, while those folks just owning pets won’t. There’s a big difference between the two personas.

On the flip side, those not having cats and dogs, and never wanting an animal, will think it’s just foolish talk. I’ve run into more than one of those people over the years, and sadly, they don’t know what they’re missing out on in life.

At this point in Simon’s life, he doesn’t want to travel all over creation seeing the country and leaving his mark like younger dogs. Our fur baby is more at peace being at home in surroundings that he’s accustomed to. To now abandon the poor guy with strangers would shorten his already fragile life considerably. It would be akin to dropping off Grandma Moses, who’s now living in your home, at a convenience store for several days so that you can go on vacation. There are some self-centered people in this world that would do exactly that.

Being true pet lovers, our commitment to Simon is to do all we can to make his last days on earth as comfortable as possible. It’s no more different than what a person should expect for their ailing parents or grandparents.

What many younger people don’t understand, is that pets help fill a big void after children have left the nest. Animals will never totally replace them where flesh & blood is concerned, but they do become family and are important. Most of us seniors see our pets on a daily basis, whereas, it might be weeks, months, or even years before the kids stop by.

I recall when my mother reached that same stage as Simon. She didn’t want to venture far from her church, doctors, grocery store, and little apartment. The thought of being twenty-miles away from any one of them created stress and anxiety, things that someone with a heart condition should avoid. When my brother asked her to travel around the state of Alaska with him, Mom basically told Jim to have at it, she’d hold down the fort.

Dad had a different way of looking at adult decisions than Mom. While some didn’t always agree with the quirky decisions he made, my father’s philosophy was quite simple like Mom’s. I believe this is how he would explain things if he were still alive:

“I’ve been calling the shots where decisions are concerned for most of my life, some of them right and some of them wrong. In spite of the errors, I’ll continue making my own decisions until the day I die!”

I’ve picked up a bit of both parent’s reasoning here. Like Mom, I’m a homebody and can find great joy going absolutely nowhere. Being a military kid, I had my fill of traveling, living in Florida and California, plus a couple of states in between. I’ve always been able to entertain myself doing crafty things around the house and still do. Dad and I are birds of a feather in certain areas, but I would add three significant words to his statement where making adult life decisions is concerned.

“I’ve been calling the shots where decisions are concerned for most of my life, some of them right and some of them wrong. In spite of the errors, with God’s guidance, I’ll continue making my own decisions until the day I die!”

One of those quirky decisions I’ve made is spending as much time with our little doggie as possible. If that means curtailing all vacations until he’s gone then so be it. Grandma Moses and my mother would definitely understand!