Lessons Learned From A Dear Friend

Here is a picture of Mrs. Georgette Givens of Seabrook.  She has been a friend and supporter of Byrd & Byrd for many years.  Everyone here loves her (I’m certain the love is not just for her delicious Christmas rum cakes!)

Mary Holt, legal assistant extraordinaire, and I went by to see Mrs. Givens last week and deliver Christmas goodies. Mrs. Givens makes me smile and smile.  She will be 89 in February, her husband, her only son, and her last surviving brother are deceased.  She lives alone and can no longer drive.  All of those things, yet she maintains an active and upbeat approach to life.

Mrs. Givens keeps her house neat as can be, pays her bills on time, walks a lot, uses Metro Access, and any inventive thing she can think of to get to the Doctor’s office, the grocery store and the beauty shop. Mrs. Givens’ mind is sharp as a tack.  She is carrying on a running conversation with the county property tax office and has every fact absolutely straight.

The visit with Mrs. Givens caused me to think more about a topic I plan to discuss with you in depth during the coming months:  Ageism.  I’m beginning this discussion by referring you to a very helpful website called “This Chair Rocks.”  You will enjoy www.thischairrocks.com.

The basic thing is this:  Personally, I don’t care so much about what the rest of the world says about aging. My column emphasis in 2016 will be on the way that you and me – we, the aging – internalize the messages that we hear all around us and how we consider our own selves from what we hear. Those messages are that we are on a certain decline, without value to anyone and unable to “step up our game.”  These thoughts often become self-fulfilling prophecy, and that is the area surrounding my planned column discussions.

Please join me.