Dear grandparent,
I am writing to ask for your pardon, for as many times I have neglected your needs and have not share my time with you, for the period I abandoned you and thought of you as a liability and burden.
I have never taking you out to a beautiful restaurant to have a delicious dinner and to spend a quality time with you. I have never taking you for a walk in a mother nature to embrace the beauty of nature and to admire the wonderful creation of God. I have never bought you a gift that will serve as a lovely memory of us.
Now that you are no more, I want to organize a befitting burial for you, I want people to come and have a good time, I want them to speak well of me and to say I have giving you a befitting burial. But, is that what you really wanted? How could I spend so much organizing a befitting burial for you, and spend so little while you were still with me? How can I claim I love you when I neglected your needs while we were together?
This is true in many Nigerian context and situations, so, show love to your grandparent when they are alive and don’t wait until after they are no more to want to organize a showoff burial, I am sure they will be happy receiving this care and love while they are alive.
The aged of our time
Does the saying “when an elderly person die, is like a library that got burnt” still hold ground today? I have seen so many elderly persons abandoned in the village with no one to take care of them, some are accuse of witchcraft and some others are been accused of blocking the success of their grandchildren. How can we move forward in a society that pays very little attention to the needs of the elderlies?
We all need love and attention, but the elderlies need more love, care and attention because of their fragile nature. Enough of these flamboyant funeral to the elderly, while left in an inhuman condition when they were alive. We need to change the way we treat our elderlies, we need to add values to their lives and make their last days on earth a memorable one.
There is a need for an intergenerational relationship, where the elderlies could guide the young through their life experience, and the young could also help the elderly to understand the time and season they lived, because many elderlies seems to remain in the past and find it difficult to key into the present.
Make your grandparent your friends, and if they are no more, transfer the love to other elderly people, and I am sure they will love it.