Yesterday was International Day for the Elderly. Sadly, in today’s mad rat race, the elderly tend to be excluded and set aside as a ‘burden’ on families who are desperately trying to make a living and keep up.
Sadly, many are sent to nursing homes and are forgotten except for the weekends. While it is true that millions of Euros are being invested in care for pensioners, we should never forget the contribution they have put into society.
Many of them lived through hard times and forged ahead, seeking a brighter future after World War II. They lived through constant air raids, the pain and anguish of losing family members, starvation and on to fighting for independence from foreign rule and the eventual setup of a Republic. In all that time, they rebuilt Malta from the rubble that was left and proceeded to re-populate a war ravaged country. Times were hard, people emigrated in search of a better life and they never gave up.
People who are aged between 30 and 40 are now seeing their parents and grandparents getting older and older. Some of them, up to only a few years ago, might have served as mentors, advisers, babysitters, craftsmen and much, much more.
Some continued to work in the voluntary sector, with churches, with charities, with children and others even stayed on in employment beyond retirement age.
No, we should not sideline this older generation. How many times have we all heard the wise words of an older person, discarding them as nonsense, only to then look back in hindsight and realise that what they were saying makes perfect sense? How many times do we think of our parents and grandparents and not make that visit which we have promised repeatedly? How many times have we not picked up the phone and made a simple phone call which would make their day (or week)?
When we really think about it, it is the small things which we forget that make a world of difference to an older person. Simple things such as listening to them, taking stock of their opinions and judgment, not getting impatient with them when they are walking with us down the street.
Many might think that these things do not make that much of a difference but they do. Older people get frustrated because they cannot help us (or themselves) as they used to. They want to do more to help us but they cannot. And when they try, we get impatient with them and tell them to “go sit down so you don’t hurt yourself”.
The Malta Independent welcomes the new investment at the Jesus of Nazareth convent in Zejtun, along with the refurbishment of the Karin Grech Hospital which will take on some elderly patients.
We also commend the words of parliamentary secretary Mario Galea who recently pointed out: “Care of the elderly should not be a choice but a priority”. We could not agree more. Every older person out there has made significant contributions in getting this country to the point it has arrived at to date.
We must continue to invest in them, their wellbeing, their health, their lifelong learning skills and above all else, their dignity, their pride and their contribution to Malta and everything Maltese.