Do we truly respect someone who doesn’t care about us?

Can we truly love someone who hates us?

Do we genuinely hold respect for someone who shows us disrespect?

The ultimate response is, in fact, no, correct?

So, why does the current generation continue to treat their elders in this manner? They urge their children to show respect, but do they genuinely honor their own parents or elders? The elderly do not seek a lavish lifestyle, costly clothing, or anything similar; they require care, respect, and love. We simply cannot meet their excessively costly demands.

Episode 1.

Have we ever considered why old-age homes are established and expand so rapidly?

They say that the elders are much happier in the old age home; they do not want to stay with their families.

Several days ago, I went to the closest retirement home and encountered an uncle who served as a retired military officer. He remains quite healthy there—exercising, aiding others, assisting in the kitchen, and looking after his friends. My small heart felt so joyful upon seeing him, but a thought crossed my mind: why is he present? I approached him to say hello, and my subconscious wondered, “Uncle, what brings you here?” He shared with me his tale, accompanied by a heartwarming smile, explaining why he decided to remain in the senior living facility after being separated from his family for many years.

We live in a world obsessed with birthday celebrations and the number of days that we celebrate a whole year. Remember birthdays, posting them like the sun, rising every day before we put our story, but have we ever remembered our close ones, especially our elders’ birthdays? Just ask yourself, considering our calendar, is there any day specifically celebrated as a senior citizen day or a day of our lifeline warriors? Every end is just an end with no reason. We are so busy in our current lives that we forget to celebrate the people who always love us more. Our first childhood friend, our dada, dadi, and the parents also do not remember their parents now, and in the back, they expect their child to respect them.

Age is just a timestamp. It tells you when someone arrived, but it reveals nothing about the depths of their heart, the strength of their character, or the light they bring into the world.

Episode 2:

I once met a twelve-year-old girl who volunteered at a nursing home every Saturday. She would sit with a resident who had no family visitors, holding their weathered hands and listening to stories she’d heard a dozen times before. She never checked her phone. She never seemed bored. She showed up week after week with a care that many adults had long forgotten how to give.

Was her compassion less valuable because she hadn’t passed high school? Did her presence bring less comfort to those lonely elderly hearts because she was young? Of course not. Her age was irrelevant. What mattered was that she saw people who needed kindness and she chose to give it.

We dismiss teenagers as too young to understand and elderly people as too old to matter. We tell twenty-somethings they lack experience and fifty-somethings they are past their prime. We create arbitrary hierarchies that elevate age above humanity, as if living longer automatically makes someone more deserving of dignity.

And why should we say the girl brought comfort to those lonely elderly hearts because she was young? Certainly, her age was not the point. In fact, what counted was that she noticed the poor, and at the same time, she decided to be kind.

We neglect teenagers. We think they are too young to comprehend, and elderly folks, because we believe they are too old for society to care. We tell people in their twenties that they lack experience, and people in their fifties that they are living the decline. We come up with arbitrary hierarchies that put age on a higher level than humanity, as if it is living longer that makes a person more worthy of dignity.

Episode 3:

A child of just four years old who gives their favorite toy to a crying classmate has, in fact, grasped something very deep about comfort. A senior of eighty years who still finds time to help a young person in difficulty is showing a level of respect that surpasses age differences. Age is not the cause of these experiences, but neither is it the barrier to them.

Love is not a matter of knowing different things through different ages. It only needs the will to see the other person’s pain and the will to respond with a gentle touch. ;, ;

The choice before Us:

Every day we make a decision. We may notice age first and then humanity, or vice versa. We may hide behind numbers as a reason for discarding kindness. The truth is that a child’s fear is just as real as an adult’s. The dreams of an elderly person are just as important as those of a young person. Neither pair nor gauge criterion for the discrimination of our compassion.

We are all human beings, after all, and the truth is that it is painfully simple. We are all just people trying to navigate this strange, wonderful, and challenging life.

Some of us have been here longer than others, but none of us have all our lives figured out. We all fall. We all need help. We all deserve to be cared for, respected for who we are, and consoled when we are too overwhelmed to carry the burden of life alone.

Time will keep flying by. However, the way we treat each other is what leaves a mark. That’s what changes lives. That’s what makes us human. So let’s stop asking “  How old are you?”

Let’s start asking “How are you?” and actually mean it because in the end, what matters isn’t how long we’ve been here. It’s how much love, care, respect, and comfort we shared while we had the chance.