I once asked if aging in America was really unpleasant since they stow their elderly in care institutions in far places. I couldn't imagine anything more tragic when you're old than being packed together with other elderly people in the suburbs far from where the normal people live. I couldn't even make myself think how it is for old people to be slapped like this with the painful reality that illness and infirmity and old age are never revered and infact do not have a place in modern living.
For us Asians, we pride ourselves with having a glorious way of revering and taking care of our old. We take them in to live with us and always reserve to hear their say on important family decisions. They are never treated with disgust or repulsion. They are never made to recall or pay for past mistakes or misjudgments. All their wishes are given paramount importance. They are well remembered during birthdays and other special occasions. Even our newly-borns are named after them. These has changed how the East is viewed by the West. Retiring in the East, particularly in the Philippines, is a sweet and touching tribute to a lifetime spent working and raising a family. It is heaven on earth.
There's a reason I asked about aging in America. I was interested to know more since, one after another, my mother's siblings trooped to migrate to the US for good. In less than a year, the families of an uncle and two aunts stuffed some of their belongings in suitcases and travel boxes to start a new life across the globe from us. All of us who stayed were a bit apprehensive. We couldn't completely picture how our cousins would fit in school or how my uncles and aunties would be able to adjust to new working lifestyles there. More especially, we wondered, how will they ever be when they get old?
I admire my relatives for their fearlessness. They didn't have qualms about leaving their businesses and friends and families here and move to an entirely new and foreign setting --- where doing certain things has to be learned, where new language has to be spoken, where some things have to be given up.
But God is good. My cousins are doing really well in school. My aunties say they were never in the honors class consistently when they were here in the Philippines, but they have managed so far to top their classes all the time. All of my aunties and uncles have found jobs already. Things seem to be working pretty well for them.
Am I ready for the plunge?
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