SUBJECT: To Be Young Again

Ah, to be Young Again! That is something we have all said it one time 
or
another. In time we 
will all be Young again. Maybe our bodies will not look like it but we
will show signs of youth
and being a child. No, I have not lost my mind because of these words
that I write. I have not
lost my mind because I am not young again. Please let me explain.

Very small children are a totally dependent on their parents for 
feeding
them, bathing them, cleaning
up their messes and just for anything else you can think of. They are
helpless, weak, and unable to
do much of anything for themselves. So whether you like it or not, we
will all be young again, if we
live long enough. 

The reason I say that is for over four years now I have been care giver
to my now eighty-seven year
Young Mother. At times she is like a small child and depends on me for
her survival. Sometimes
she has to be fed. All the time she has to be given a bath, given her
medicine, told when to sleep, 
when to eat, and everything else. She is weak and frail and can not 
take
care of herself. The list goes
on forever. 

This message is mainly written for those people in the middle age
bracket. I am writing this to let
you know what to expect, for yourself in the distant future or for your
parents in the very near 
future. How are You going to react. What are you going to do about Your
parents. Can you handle
the responsibility or Will you even try. 

Like I said before, I have been my mothers care giver for over four
years. There have been times when
I wonder how I ever came about doing this. There have been many more
times that I wonder how much
longer I am going to be able to continue. The reason I say that is
twenty-four hours a day and seven days
a week can wear you down. At times it takes a toll on your mind and 
body.


You may ask then, Why do you do it. All I can say to that is that 
mother
was there for me when I was
a helpless child. She cared for me. Sat up with me when I was sick and
made we well again. 
I do all of this for her because of my Love for her. She Loved me 
enough
when I was a child to take
care of me so I am repaying her Love for me then. Sure, I could back 
out
and just put her in a Nursing
Home and let them take care of her. In the last 4 years I had no choice
but to put her in the Nursing
Home about four times. The reason I did was because she had to heal
broken hips and other problems.
I made a promise to her and myself that I would take care of her and I 
am
a man of my word. 

I love taking care of her even when it wears me down. All it takes to 
get
my mind off myself is to see
that now rare Smile on her face. With all the pain she goes through the
Smiles don't come as often as
they once did, but seeing that one Smile recharges my batteries and 
makes
me won't to keep going.
Just to hear her say "Goodnight, I Love you", sometimes almost brings 
me
to tears. Then on those rare
times when she can think more clearly, she will tell me "Thank you for
taking care of me. I don't know what
I would do without you" , well, that will warm your heart.

So think about being young again. Now you know what it is really like 
to
be a young child. You will be
young again if you live long enough. Start planning now for your youth. 
I
know many of you have gone
through the same things with your parents. Decisions and sacrifices 
have
to be made. We all must
do things for our parents in their Golden age. Are you ready for the
task. I have taken care of my mother because I am her son. There is a
future problem for me. The reason I say this is because I have never
married and
do not have any children of my own. Who will take care of me?

May God Bless you as you return to your youth again. HE has blessed me 
in
more ways that I can 
count.

jmg