Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes as she stepped out of the car, thanking me with a bow. It’s truly disheartening that in such a developed country, we still struggle to care for our elderly.
Three weeks ago, I was driving my son to school. We decided to stop for a few minutes near a bus stop to check his gym kit in the backpack. From a distance, I noticed an elderly woman, who looked quite frail, making her way towards us.
She approached the window and tapped lightly. I rolled it down, and with a glimmer of hope in her voice, she asked:
“Good morning, are you a taxi driver?”
I shook my head, and with a sigh, she slowly walked away. I asked my son to continue looking for the kit himself, and I got out to learn more about the woman.
“I thought you were a taxi driver; they sometimes stop here. I need to get to the hospital.”
“It’s not far for me, maybe two miles. Please, hop in.”
We drove off. She was breathing heavily, and I could tell even talking was a struggle for her. She shared that she usually takes the bus to the hospital every day, but this morning, heavy snow had caused her to miss it, with the next one not arriving for another hour. As I listened, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of injustice.
When we arrived, she reached into her bag for her purse…
“I absolutely won’t take a penny from you,” I firmly insisted. “You’ve been through so much in life; you’ve paid your dues already.”
With tears in her eyes, she got out and thanked me with a bow.
And there I was, a healthy thirty-year-old man, with a lump in my throat, watching her walk away. I feel deeply regretful that in such a developed nation we struggle to adequately support our senior citizens. It’s shameful that older people have to worry about something as simple as getting to the doctor.
Dear Readers, if you know someone who needs help with these basic tasks, please assist however you can. Drive them to appointments, help them cross the road, do their shopping… Let’s look out for one another!
