Facebook Quizzes for Those Over Fifty

No wonder Facebook has all sorts of Likeness quizzes about relationships and romance--its main users are kids, college students and young adults. But what if there was a Facebook for the over 50 crowd? What sort of quizzes might be pitched to me and my peers ?

One might well be "What Things Do You Fear Most About Aging? Choose from most to least."

Dementia

lack of adequate medical care

losing a spouse

losing friends

living on a fixed income

diminished hearing/eyesight

having to move from my present home

diminished mobility

not being able to keep up with technology

not being valued by younger people

(????)

At the top of my list would be dementia. My mother suffered with Alzheimer's Disease for over a decade, and eventually was unable to remember who she was, muchless that I was her firstborn and only daughter. Now when I catch myself making errors in my checkbook and forgetting words, I fear that I will repeat her nightmare.

Yesterday at VCC's annual Worship in the Park, a friend poured our her heart to me about having to recently place her mother in a skilled care facility, as her father was no longer able to care for her. She has some sort of dementia. "All my life my mom has been my role model," she wept. "I've always wanted to be like her...but now, for the first time ever, I don't want to be like her."

Feelings of grief, betrayal, confusion, guilt. Unspoken fears that we will share the same fate as those for whom we now now care. This is the fruit of Alzheimer's and its ilk.

Tonight at ten o'clock Steve got a call from one of the saints of our congregation. Don is spry, 90+, and has been caring for his beloved wife. She has been in declining body and mind, and broke her hip a year ago. That did something to her to make her mean and violent, but Don's gentle spirit usually managed to calm her. Not tonight, though. Or last night. Don called to say she's been shouting and carrying on for two days straight, and that tonight she wandered out of the house and was yelling in the street. He's exhausted, having had only four hours' sleep during all that time. Steve is now with him, helping him call the ambulance and get his wife admitted to the hospital. "Don't worry if I don't come home afterward," he phoned me. "I'm going to spend the night with Don."

Lord, watch over all those tonight who mourn, especially those who grieve the loss of loved ones who are still with us.