| Sunny Side Up Oct. 20, 2004 �2004, Kathleen Gibson What Older People Wonder When I stop talking, I hear things. Old voices, sometimes. Wondering. What do you wonder? I ask. Here's their answer�.. We wonder, in this 'golden age', why no one warned us about all the iron ore we'd have to chisel through to find it. We wonder, every bedtime, why we thought that one day life would be easy. We wonder, every morning, if this'll be the day it gets easy. We wonder, when all we've got is time, why God couldn't have spread it out over all those days when there was never enough. We wonder why we took so long to discover how few things in life are truly important. We wonder, scanning the purple evening sky, why we made time for so few sunsets. We wonder why we spent more time being busy than being, period. We wonder, given so many days, why we don't have more to show for them. We wonder, in retrospect, why we didn't reach farther, stretch higher, dig deeper. We wonder, holding our pension cheques, why we ever thought money could make us happy. We wonder, when our possessions choke us, why we didn't start giving them away when they still meant something to someone. We wonder if phone solicitors are the only ones who know our number. We wonder why we're so reluctant to call others ourselves. We wonder, when the morning sun finds our windows, if we'll ever get used to waking alone. We wonder, when someone tells us some small thing we did mattered, why we didn't do them more. We wonder by what miracle our children believe we were such good parents after all. We wonder, when they boss us, who gave them permission to switch roles. We wonder, meeting a child, if it's all right to talk a little - just to remember. We wonder, when given a hug, how to get one every day. We wonder, flipping through old photos, why we ever complained about being unattractive. We wonder, when the music's sweet, if we can still dance - or why we never learned. We wonder, gazing in the mirror, who let that stranger in. We wonder, in winter, who'll win today, the sidewalk or us. We wonder, in summer, why we stopped picking flowers. We wonder, at church, if they'd forgive us for yelling, 'Louder and slower, please!" We wonder, when filled with longing, how a body can look so old, but feel so young. We wonder, when our birthday candles could light a dark street, why a child still peers out from the mirror in our soul. We wonder, reading our old scrapbooks, if any of it mattered. We wonder, on birthdays, why the thought that this one may be our last bothers us less each year. We wonder, reviewing our senseless worries, why we didn't trust God more. We wonder, reviewing our blessings, why he chose to send so many. We wonder, when we finally let go, what we were so afraid of. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
 |