I was shuffling a great deal of papers today and at the end of my task my fingers had that funny numb feeling that comes from consistent, low friction. I was reminded of a time I went to be fingerprinted for our school district in order to substitute teach. The woman who procured my prints informed me that she had no finger prints. That she in fact had "worn them away after years of shuffling papers." I had no idea this could happen. She also informed me that as we age, our fingerprints naturally get harder and harder to detect, eventually distorting completely. I was amazed to find, after some Internet research on my own, that this is true.
I find this an interesting metaphor on age in our society. How often do the elderly in America become invisible, without identity that can be recalled? I know that grandmas and grandpas are cherished by most families but is it true that as we get older, our individuality wears away only to be undetectable to those too young to remember?
I know that at each of my grandparents funerals I was amazed to hear of the lives they lived long before I was born. I did not know them for who they really were and worst of all, I did not appreciate them.
I think it is time in our country, and in my life, to take a closer look at the evidence of the lives of the elderly people I know. I would think that the greatest tribute I could offer would be to take notice of the uniqueness of the fingerprints they left on this world.
3 comments:
What a beautiful post and such an intriguing connection! Previous to "checking my stocks and bonds" (my code for reading blogs) I had written a note tomy grandparents and felt disappointed for not maintaining our relationships over the years and distance. The elderly are such a precious asset to our families and nation. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I loved this post--I find that so many older people have a wealth of life experiences to share, but I often don't take the time to tap into them. Around the time that Ryan's grandma died, I got my hands on her personal history. I am so grateful that she took the time to write down the happenings of her life--I found that I related to her in so many ways (similar challenges, blessings, opportunities) and she had the wisdom of a whole life to have gained perspective on it all. I hope that we don't let our loved ones be forgotten.
This is so true. When my husband's grandmother died, we were given a bunch of geneology she had done. We didn't know that his ancestors came across the plains with Brigham Young. It was pretty interested, especially since Jerry is a convert and never new about the church til he was 15. I wish we would have spent more time talking to his grandmother about her history.
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