24 August, 2021

A story of thirty five years!


This rose bush, which is the oldest in our garden has come back to its full life after the recent pruning! It is often with full of flowers with a large foliage at the centre of our garden. My mother collected twigs of rose bushes from neighbours and planted several of them, out of which at least five still give flowers through the year. 

Bearing flowers after thirty five years!

For all of us, who are senior citizens, we face a lingering question, what are we to do with our lives!

Yesterday, a friend stopped me to greet me and to enquire how Anna and I spend our time together. She seemed to have noticed Anna and I sit in a restaurant and have tea together. She was keen to know how we spend our time together, when we are alone. During the conversation, it occurred to me that many people search for meaningful ways to be engaged. 

To have a large meaning to life as one gets older is important. Life takes us to another plane of meaning and horizon as we get older. For Anna and myself, welcoming others in to  our home is one aspect of that enlargement. A family who came to visit us yesterday refreshed us immensely with their son entertaining us with his talk, song, commentary on what he drew, food he liked to eat at the dining table, etc. 

Another way Anna and I find refreshed is through conversations with younger people. There are a few with whom we are regularly involved to listen and interact. The weekly Friday Forum on-line  with a few, is an ongoing meeting place.

I find this blog a meeting place with some readers.

The tendency to withdraw and live reduced lives preoccupied with oneself, when one gets older is the common tendency. Instead, it is an opportunity to relate to others and and share the joys of life from the years of experience! 

This rose bush is fresh and flowering even after thirty five years!

There is a freshness to life all of us can grow into, if we stay related to others and stay engaged as companions to them!

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

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