Being a teacher and avid reader, I love words. I love the pictures they evoke and the emotions they call forth. I love how words are added to other words to express thoughts and ideas.
This week I've learned a new phrase..."aging in place." I've not heard of that one before. Is it like "marching in place?" I remember that one from drill team. You're marching and not going anywhere.
I guess aging in place means that you can get older in the place where you live, kind of like I'm doing now and I didn't even know it. The next time someone asks me if we are going to downsize since we are empty nesters, I can say "No, we are aging in place."
My husband says that maybe I've misunderstood the phrase - it might have been "aging in places," as in... I think you get the picture.
I'm really being unfair because I've not related the context of how the phrase was used. Dan and I are facing the challenge of dealing with another new phrase as it relates to his mother: severe stenosis of the spinal column. This diagnosis has convinced us that we need to make some decisions about his parent's future, so I have begun to visit retirement homes/communities. One of the questions I asked on a tour yesterday was what happens when his parent's level of care increases. I was told by the manager that they "age in place."
This tour guide also asked me at the beginning of our conversation if I was looking for myself or for my loved ones. (Kind of sounds like a funeral director, doesn't it?) As I glanced at all the walkers and wheelchairs I thought "Well I've obviously been aging in place and places!" She later told me the average age was 82. I'll have her know that I'm decades+ away from 82. Maybe she needs a vocabulary lesson!
A sense of humor, as well as a developing vocabulary, is really important as we face life's challenges.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22 KJV
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