Kensington Court Visit

Today, I attended a wine and cheese gathering at the beautiful Kensington Court Retirement Community. The people there were so kind , never without a smile, and always wanted to share a story or two. I met a lovely elderly Italian man named Carlo who offered to show my friend and I his suite. Carlo shared his life that comprised his 5 children and his precious wife who passed away in April last year. Oh he had so much to tell us! We were invited to stay and watch his wife's memorial cd, to which we said we would return when time permitted. I feel obliged to return, not just because we said we would, but I want to hear Carlo share his wife's story and the love they shared, sensing how important it was to him to keep her memory alive. He now resides in a one room suite, without his life partner of 60 years, and a lonely silence sat waiting for us to leave. So many of the seniors there were eager to share the story behind the framed photos they carried with them, and I couldn't imagine being there on my own in my later years. I could however see me wanting to tell my life story of my beautiful son, my wonderful friends and the journey that life had offered me. This home of sorts offered ''a writing on the wall'' that predicts where most of us will reside as we grow older. I will probably feel differently as I reach far into my 80's, but for now, there was an urgency to keep laughing, loving and living while I could. Someday will come when I ask a younger person to sit for awhile and hear my story....I so hope they can make the time, if for only to make the day a little less lonely, and long.