09/06/2025
āDo you know what the hardest part of getting older is?ā
āWhat?ā
āItās becoming invisible. When youāre young, youāre still somebody: attractive, fun, charismatic, strongā¦ at the very least, noticeable. But then all that fades. And suddenly youāre just āthat old man in a worn-out jacketā or āthat grandma in a beret and an old sweater.ā It feels like you donāt even exist anymore. Like youāve turned transparent.ā
āBut you know what? I noticed you the second you walked into the roomā¦ā
That line comes from a well-known British TV series. Sadly, it rings true.
Too often, the only thing people see in an older person is their age. No one says, āshe used to be a language teacher,ā or āhe was an engineer.ā Instead, itās: āsheās over 80,ā or āhe must be pushing ninety.ā Over the years, the number of people who actually know your storyāwho you were, what you loved, what you were good atāshrinks. Friends pass away. Some canāt leave the house anymore. They move so slowly that the only trip outside might be to grab a loaf of bread from the corner store.
Meanwhile, kids are wrapped up in their own pace, their own struggles. Sometimes they call. Even more rarely, they stop by. In the building, there are new neighborsāyoung parents with strollers, dads juggling grocery bags. Nobody even knows the name of the elderly lady on the second floor. The corner store has new clerks. No familiar faces left. At best, people know your apartment number and your approximate age. Whatās behind those doors? Nobody cares. And thatās how emptiness sets in.
We wonder why Mom calls ten times a day with ātrivialā things. Why Dad repeats the same question again and again. The truth is, theyāre just afraid of being forgotten. They want to be noticed. To be heard. Even if itās only over the phone. Because aging isnāt just about adding yearsāitās about invisibility. Itās about loneliness. Itās about the deep need to still matter to someone.
Donāt wait until itās too late. Call. Stop by. Ask how their day went. For you, itās a minute. For them, itās the whole world. Sometimes, a simple āI remember youā is enough to make someone feel alive againāseen, valued, not forgotten.
