Volunteers: Our Aging Selves

When you look around at our volunteer meetings all across LD17 who do you see, primarily?  Old ladies and old men?  Your eyes are working correctly then!  At this point anyone under 65 seems to be the younger generation.  This is not an insult.  It is a fact.  Our conversations are often interspersed with: 

“What?” “Sorry, I lost my train of thought.” “Now, what was I going to say?” “Sorry, I lose words now and then.” “You know, that thing...” And then there are words like whatchamacallit—sorry, sorry, sorry. 

But look again, closer.  Look at the turnout at the protests.  White hair, gray hair, colored hair, no hair.  But there we are, in greater numbers, our aging bodies out in the streets doing the job of our lifetimes in this moment.  There you can see the energy, vigor, inventiveness and commitment newly awakened.  We can do this!  We are doing this! 

OpEd by Melvina Strijdonk