{"id":8923,"date":"2025-03-24T15:59:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T20:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=8923"},"modified":"2025-03-24T15:59:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T20:59:03","slug":"an-elder-folk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/24\/an-elder-folk\/","title":{"rendered":"An Elder Folk"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/h6>\n
When I started out on this Facebook Road, I had no idea where it would take me or where I\u2019d end up. But on this journey, I\u2019ve met many people, some I never want to lose and some, I\u2019ve had to unfriend, not many of those though.<\/h6>\n
From 2009, traveling 16 years on this road, there have been many changes, but the avenue remains. New scenes arise and a little of the old ways continue to keep us entertained. I\u2019ve never met the designers or the ones working behind the curtain, I just know they are always working, listening and watching. They\u2019re like the old peddler going from house to house promoting his goods and services. They\u2019ve found a way to penetrate every aspect of our lives and minds, enticing us to tell things we\u2019d never reveal with an eye to eye, real life person. And yet here we are, face to face, sharing our deepest emotions to strangers we call friends.<\/h6>\n
It doesn\u2019t seem so invasive though, as friendships are cultivated day in and day out.<\/h6>\n
Humorous memes, family pictures of babies, and pets displayed with great admiration, groups of every walk of life. History shared for all the world to see as it maps places from sea to shining sea\u2026north, south, east and west\u2026a world to explore. Personal stories, along with music, all come alive on this road of secrets no longer hidden within.<\/h6>\n
Likes and loves and laughs and tears galore, Oh, my! Accepted now, as a way of life.<\/h6>\n
I don\u2019t know why, but I felt I needed to write something about it today.<\/h6>\n
You have all, become, a part of my everyday life.<\/h6>\n
I sit most days contemplating things. I\u2019m 71 years old. I don\u2019t sleep much at night, and I sleep late in the day. My husband, Bob, still works a full-time job at home with his computer, and that\u2019s OK, really. But I can\u2019t seem to find my purpose anymore.<\/h6>\n
An illness and age restrict me. If I try to explain how I feel to anyone, well, they don\u2019t understand so I keep quiet.<\/h6>\n
I pray, a, lot and I know He (Papa) always listens, and He blesses me more than I deserve. Still, I feel alone. I know He\u2019s always with me. But like someone once said, \u201cI need a meat, on some bones, someone.\u201d I do get phone calls from people needing prayer and I cherish those times. God is good!<\/h6>\n
I know we all have our secret desires and thoughts. The elder folk are living in a-space-in-between.<\/h6>\n
\u201cI\u2019m too old to be young, and too young to be old.\u201d As Evelyn said in, \u2018Fried Green Tomatoes.\u201d<\/h6>\n
I can\u2019t drive anymore. I can\u2019t sing like I use to; horsey throat came along. Sitting too long causes my sugar to go up. So, writing and reading are limited. Walking makes me want to fall down. Yet I know I must move to keep my strength up. I\u2019m caught between a rock and a hard place. I\u2019m not giving up though. I do have a strong will, and Holy Spirit is my helper.<\/h6>\n
So, I\u2019ll keep going through the motions. I\u2019ll go until I can\u2019t go any longer and then I\u2019ll go home.<\/h6>\n
I\u2019m not complaining mind you; I just need to vent. And since Facebook isn\u2019t really real, LOL! It is the perfect place to vent.<\/h6>\n
Maybe some of you can relate.<\/h6>\n
In my youth, when I\u2019d be around the elder folk. I used to wonder why they walked like they did. Bent, slow and shuffling their feet. Why they were constantly telling stories from their past. Why they couldn\u2019t eat certain foods and why they smelled funny. Well not funny, but different.<\/h6>\n
I wondered why they couldn\u2019t cut their toenails and why the women wore funky, baggy clothes. Polyester pants with elastic waist bands and blouses with pockets. You\u2019d never see them in blue jeans and tank tops. I wondered why the ladies didn\u2019t want to wear a bra and why my uncle chopped his food into tiny little pieces in order to eat.<\/h6>\n
Why it was that the elder folk seemed to yell at each other and why they couldn\u2019t get in and out of the bathtub without help.<\/h6>\n
Why they would make up silly little words, like, blah, blah, blah, when they tried to express themselves and couldn\u2019t remember where they put things. They were constantly saying, \u201cI use to~\u201d<\/h6>\n
Now, I know.<\/h6>\n
Getting older is a blessing. It is not for wimps or the faint of heart. It is a challenge every single day just to roll over in bed and getting out of the bed is a workout in itself.<\/h6>\n
So, I sit in quiet, and solitude and I wait for the hours to pass. Weather I\u2019m here or not the hours will continue to go bye.<\/h6>\n
Young people, if I could only help you understand. Don\u2019t take youth for granted. Don\u2019t waste precious time. Once time is spent it can never be regained, it\u2019s gone forever.<\/h6>\n
I used to sing a song, (There is that use too I was talking about.) I\u2019d sing \u201cOne day at a time.\u201d It was my signature song. I sang it many times in my youth as a solo in Church. Now looking back, I see it was prophetic.<\/h6>\n
I\u2019m only human, I\u2019m just a woman, Lord, help me believe in all that I am and all I can be, show me the stairway I have to climb, Lord for my sake, teach me to take, One day at a time.<\/em><\/h6>\n
One day at a time sweet Jesus, that\u2019s all I\u2019m asking from you. Just give me the strength to do every day what I have to do. Yesterday\u2019s gone sweet Jesus and tomorrow may never be mine, Lord, help me today, show me the way, One day at a time.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Lord, I know you remember, as you walked among men, well Jesus you know as you\u2019re looking below, it\u2019s much worse now, than then, pushing and shoving clouding my mind, Lord, for my sake teach me to take, one day at a time.<\/em><\/h6>\n
It\u2019s only at the end, well, maybe not the end just yet, but it\u2019s not until many years later that you begin to realize what life is all about. Where it has taken you and where you are at this point.<\/h6>\n
Take it from an elder folk enjoy your life. Do the thing, you think you can\u2019t and be kind to everyone you meet. We are all on this journey.<\/h6>\n
Make your journey meaningful.<\/h6>\n
You\u2019ll have many, many disappointments. Let it go, forgive and move on.<\/h6>\n
The choices you make in your youth will determine what memories you\u2019ll have when your youth has been spent. Spend it wisely.<\/h6>\n
There is absolutely no way for me to stress to you what the elder folk\u2019s life, is, like, because you haven\u2019t gotten there yet, but I can tell you from experience, I know what it is to be young and I know what it is to be elder\u2026please, take my word for it and heed my instruction\u2026enjoy the good times, have faith in the hard times and embrace the moments you\u2019ve been blessed with. It will be gone before you know it. Did you just blink? That is how fast it goes. You\u2019ll be there in a blink of an eye. I\u2019ll be in heaven then.<\/h6>\n
Now, where did I put my phone, I need to call my boys! I miss them and love them more than all the time in the world or time to come!<\/h6>\n
Love,<\/h6>\n
An Elder folk<\/h6>\n
~Marla Shaw O\u2019Neill March 24, 2025<\/h6>\n
Psalm 37:25 King James Version<\/em><\/strong> I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.<\/em><\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
Ecclesiastes 3 King James Version<\/em><\/strong> To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I started out on this Facebook Road, I had no idea where it would take me or where I\u2019d end up. But on this journey, I\u2019ve met many people, some I never want to lose and some, I\u2019ve had to unfriend, not many of those though. From 2009, traveling 16 years on this road,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-2jV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8926,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923\/revisions\/8926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}