Hello everyone in this beautiful community.
I am so glad I'll have to share my creativity with you, this is the first time I would be a participant in a contest in this community, and I'm excited. please read to the end.
It was the weekend and I was at the beach having a good time when I saw a 90-year-old woman looking so much like I do, well, I assume she was 90. Here is what she looked like.
The image is mine, old age effect was made withfaceapp
What captured my attention the most was that she was wearing the same outfit as mine.
She was on a denim jacket and a beach hat, her smiles were twice as wide as mine and she had the same dentition as mine.
Oh! I ran off to her and embraced her, I requested we took some pictures so I could keep the memory forever, happily she accepted.
I couldn't get enough of her, so I sat next to her as they say "there is beauty in gray-headedness" I wanted to acquire so much wisdom from her, I held her hands to feel her skin, it was so soft and radiant though a bit wrinkled, she looked at me and smiled.
I introduced myself to her and she did the same. Her name is Ma'am Grace. Being a curious type I started to ask her so many questions.
I asked about her health and then she said, "my little one, old age comes with a lot of challenges, but I'm thankful that I could do all I could while I was still young, vibrant, and agile. I can no longer walk long distances, I have changed my diet to improve my health, I have poor eyesight now, and the guards of my house are shaky" I interrupted her, ma'am, what does that mean? The guards of your house are shaky?
She smiled, we old people love to speak on proverbs, well it means that my teeth are shaky," .... Oh! I smiled. She continued, " the sound of the grinding mills have become low"
She realized I didn't understand that part so she further explained what it meant and she said, "It means I can't hear as much as I could while I was your age".
I further asked what mistakes she would love to retrace if she had the opportunity to, and she replied " my little one, when I was your age, I was so industrious and didn't have time to enjoy the money I worked for, it was work, work, work, I thought when I grow older and become a millionaire, I would have enough time to enjoy myself, I never took a minute off, I never knew the years goes by as quickly as a wink, Amie, can you imagine the fun you would have at your old age? When you're scared of height, can't concentrate for too long, fall asleep while seeing a movie, I wish I enjoyed myself more than I did while I was younger, so little one make your life balanced, while you're hustling ensure you rest and enjoy your labor."
It felt like she was talking to me directly because I am a workaholic and never take time off work.
She further told me she regretted not taking her health as a priority while she was younger, she ate almost anything without knowing the effect it had on her, and she advised me to always go for medical checks, like checking my blood pressure, blood sugar level, and my general well being. She also advised me to always get enough sleep as it affected her retentive memory, she would stay up all night and not have enough sleep, she made me realize that if I could have 7-8hours of sleep over the night, I would have a good memory and might not suffer memory loss as most old people do and she reminded me to exercise often.
Ma'am Grace told me she took her familial bond for granted when her dad and mom were still alive until they passed, and she realized she didn't spend enough time with them and she regretted that so much.
This part hit me so hard, as I felt I was guilty too, I spent all my time at work, with my friends, or on my phone(social media). I had a little discussion with my parent, I would rather see a movie than chit-chat with them, so I promised her I was gonna work on that.
She was ready to go on and on, but I realized it was getting dark so I asked her a few more questions.
What are the most important qualities to possess? Her response was awesome, here was her reply.
"GRATITUDE! to be grateful for everything. Even the little things people do for you.
KINDNESS! A kind heart is better than a beautiful face. Your utterances should leave people happier than you find them.
RESILIENCE! There will always be uncertainties in life, you must learn to be effective in difficulties.
PATIENCE! The day you plant a seed is not the day you harvest it, you must nurture it with love and care and soon you'd see results.
COURAGE! While hoping for the best, be prepared to face the worst.
HONESTY! BE truthful in everything you do.
HUMILITY! If you fail to be humble, life will humble you, old age will humble you as well, and you'd have to depend on people you feel you don't need at one point in time."
She further stressed the need to apologize to people when I hurt them or do something unkind to them.
I asked her what she looked like when she was younger, she brought out her phone, lo and behold she had a picture Of what she looked like.
The image is mine.
I was blown away by her beauty and great words of wisdom. I was glad I chose to make friends with her even though I was having good times with my friends at the beach and they thought it wasn't necessary to meet someone as old as she was. After gaining so much from her, I knew I made the right choice, I looked into her eyes and said, "Ma'am Grace, you've changed my life within so little time, I wanna be just like you"
We stood up and took a stroll, and then she shared one of her throwback pictures with me.
I hugged her, didn't want to let go because I learned so much from her and she smelled nice too.
I watched her leave with so much aura, Ma'am Grace was gracious indeed.
I went back to my friends to share all I learned because knowledge is powerful only when it is shared.
I and my friends took a beautiful selfie and we left for home.
The image is mine.
Thank you for reading to this point, till we meet again, this is Amie Geoffrey.