I really had never given a whole lot of thought to ageism (especially dealing with the elderly), or the way our society appears to separates itself from elderly people, until I started working as a caregiver for the elderly. Also, I feel like a learned a lot from taking my Nursing Assistant course. The most alarming pattern that I have noticed is that it seems like when a person has nothing left but love to contribute to a family, many sons and daughters and loved ones seem to make themselves scarce. My uncle, a surveyor, is having an extremely hard time finding work as he is 63, and surveying requires one to be physically active.

I feel that we have a lot to gain from the elderly. I wish our culture revered the aging as the wise and experienced people they are.