As you read the brief interaction below you may see yourself. You may be a son or a daughter watching your parents or grandparents age, or you may be nearing the age of the father. Life has a way of sneaking up on us.

“How are you doing?” the son asked as he spoke into his cell phone. The question was more than a mere conversation starter. Over the weekend he had stopped by to see his parents while traveling between two speaking events. Throughout the day he had noticed his 85-year-old father was a bit confused and physically weak. He had never witnessed these spells that his sister said are becoming more frequent.

Just before bed his father, against family advice, decided to take a tub bath. The son waited outside the bathroom door, listening for any signs of trouble. “Dad, I’m coming in.” Finding his father unhurt and lying on the floor between the tub and the toilet, the son picked up his father, helped him to get dressed, and into bed.

“I’m doing okay. Things are wearing out,” the father replied softly, his hand shaking a bit as he held the phone to answer his son’s question. “Dad, we can thank God when things wear out, as it is a reminder that all of this is only temporary.” In a hearty reply the father said, “That’s right, that’s right!”

I am the son in the story above. I will miss my dad when his time comes, but I will also be a bit jealous if he get’s to Heaven before I do.

Stan Means
Elder Source Senior Ministries