Preparing for old age

Full Preparing for Old Age Getting old is a possibility every individual faces. It is a phenomenon wherein people may either fear or enjoy depending on how they prepared for it. Since every person is bound to this stage if one does not die young, it is important to prepare for it because it is considered to be one of the most difficult episodes in one’s life. This paper then aims to express how one old man made it possible for him to enjoy his life at the age of eighty three by doing his best during his younger years. James Henry was born in a family who struggled a lot financially. His parents were mere farmers who lost a lot of their earthly possessions during the “ Dust Bowl” phenomenon. Being the fifth child, he only heard about their glory days when life was good and seemed promising. He only saw how difficult it had been for his parents and siblings to make things bearable. Mr. Henry says he also had to make a lot of sacrifices himself for him to help the family in their problem. As a young child, he helped his parents in the fields whenever he can and however he can. He learned to work hard even at a tender age especially during summer vacations. For him, it was quite easy to accept such kind of life then because they had few neighbors and most of them are not his friends anyway. Although there was this particular child whom he envied because they had a nice house and car and he was always dressed well, he never had strong feelings against his circumstances. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed helping his parents and siblings because their work time became their bonding time. They have strong relationships despite their financial struggles. Being the youngest in the family, Mr. Henry supposes he saw more of his parents’ hardships when they grew old. He says that when his brothers and sisters married, he was left alone to attend to his parents who started having problems of being old such as getting sick and weak. Due to the difficulties he witnessed his parents go through, he vowed that he will do everything to ensure that he will be enjoying his life instead of working hard in order to eat when he reaches his parents’ ages. Therefore, he decided to do his best in his studies and at the same time, work whatever job he can get so that he can help augment his parents’ income. Therefore, aside from helping in the farm, Mr. Henry also ran errands for their neighbors especially the wealthier ones. Mr. Henry recalls with tears in his eyes, “ I am glad I saw how my parents grew old because that was what compelled me to decide to wake up early and stay up late so I can work more hours and not fail to do my responsibilities at home and in school. Although it was difficult, those hardships were the very ones which molded me to become the best that I could be”. As a result, he says that he was able to save for his retirement and old age. “ Now, I do not need to work just as my parents did despite being sick and old”, the old-timer beams as he adds, “ I just hope my parents enjoyed the same things I am enjoying now”. For Mr. Henry, what probably seemed to be his future condition was turned into a better one because of his optimism and refusal to live a difficult life in his old age. Although it appears he really had been through a lot of hardships, he now reaps the fruits of his labors. He mentions that it is fine with him if he had such difficult experiences when he was young because his body was still strong then to manage those hard works. If he needs to work at this time when he is already old and weak, he says he thinks he would rather die because he knows it is difficult based from what he witnessed in his parents. Therefore, Mr. Henry advises young people these days to earn and save for their old age and not spend everything on their present needs. He further suggests that it should become a priority for people nowadays because of the present trend of families.