
The Epilogue of Our Life’s Story Should Serve as a Celebration
Life usually seems to be full of potential. Even as far as middle age it can still feel as if we can do or be anything. But it’s always worth taking a moment to look back at the circumstances which brought us to this point. Because if life is worth celebrating than so are the people who gave us that wonderful gift. In short, it’s always a good idea to consider how life is working out for our parents.
This can be a difficult thing to do at a certain point. In large part simply because our culture isn’t well practiced with discussions about end of life issues. We might not want to accept that fact. But again, it comes down to a proper appreciation of life itself. There’s no life without death. And there’s no enjoyment of youth without facing up to the inevitability of old age. We seldom like to think about our parents having to suffer through something like that.
But much of this simply comes down to how we frame the issue of aging. We tend to assume that it’ll come alongside Alzheimer’s disease or other severe conditions involving cognitive decline. The worst-case scenarios are often our biggest fears. And another truth about our culture is that our fears tend to get featured in stories far more than the more probable realities. In general, the aging process isn’t going to bring about any major catastrophe. There will be some inevitable changes that come along with …