Happy Easter & Passover

This holiday takes on meaning to so many....

For children, it's mostly laughter, coloring eggs, egg rolls and maybe visit from Mr. Easter Bunny himself.

For parents and children, it might mean shopping for Easter clothes and shoes, then off to church and Sunday school for services.

For singles - it might mean "sleeping in" - do nothing special day - or - maybe go visit family.

And for seniors and elderly, if family is no longer geographically around them and visiting, or he/ she is one of the about 75% of residents who are abandoned by family...they are left with memories of holidays past and it may feel like one of the longest days in the year - next to the Christmas/ Hanukkah holidays.

This day, when you sit down to celebrate with family or friends, perhaps consider dropping in to sign up to volunteer at an assisted living facility. Maybe you belong to a choir group who could go perform there? Or - you have a very outgoing pet who might qualify to go visit with seniors and elderly? It can be very healing for the lonely to have a dog rest his / her head in their lap, or lick a hand. Many miss pets they had to surrender because they could not keep up their care.

Or - maybe you have a senior or elderly neighbor who might enjoy either being invited over to join your family for a meal, or at least maybe would enjoy some of your left over food along with a nice visit for awhile?

For me, I believe in re-framing Easter these days. To me, it is "adopt a senior or elder day." I have grown to love hearing their living history! One of my dearest friends I met this year is an 80+ year old woman who survived the bombings during WWII living in Austria and was evacuated to Britain. I've learned so much from her about how so many people nearly starved during those days.  For every elderly person who is a "story repeater," many are quite coherent and are really interesting people - even the story repeaters can be nice to listen to - and many are content to just be listened to, knowing their opinions still matter.

In the end, isn't that what may be most important to most of us -- that we loved and were loved, and mattered - made a difference in the world and touched lives around us, and people touched our lives?

Happy Easter or Passover if you celebrate. If not, would you like to join me and create it as "Adopt a Senior Day?"

Tags: celebrating, Easter, elderly, holiday, seniors