What Happens When People Don’t See Past Your White Hair?
Are ya blind? How to see, include, and learn from “old” people every day…
There was Gwen, who graciously answered a question from a grinning 20-something she’d never met.
“What’s your favourite fairy tale?” I’d asked the woman with white hair. She’d been smiling into morning sunlight at the coffee shop table next to me.
(What? I was writing a fairy tale, and I wanted to hear what magic she’d been told of in the Time Before Disney).
“Goodness, that’s all a long time ago for me!” We got talking and I learned that until recently Gwen, 85, had loved bushwalking and spending time in nature and attending social clubs.
Then she injured her leg.
It was taking months to heal and there were complications. She’d only just started driving again and wasn’t attending her social clubs. We exchanged emails so I could send her my fairy tales.
Maggie’s granddaughter posted on a Facebook group:
“My grandmother is 92 and feeling isolated. Does anyone have a grandparent who might like to talk to her over the phone?”
On the phone Maggie told me about her construction business that she was still running from home (“I’m…
