I’m sorry I missed them: August 20 was National Honey Bee Day, and August 21 was National Senior Citizens Day. But I thought I’d make up for my omission by reflecting on something that seems to unite those two:  Rare beauty.

We’ve read about the plight of honey bee colonies. How something seems to be decimating their colonies and, because of this, how pollination is in peril.  Honey bees might be small, but they do a mighty job! The same is true of many senior citizens I know. No matter their aches, pains, and age-related foibles, these older people are sometimes more youthful than the youth I know, and certainly as busy. But they, too, are becoming rare, not so much because they are dying off (although there is that, too).

No, too often, people discount what senior citizens are capable of doing. Or, they are moving too quickly to stop and learn that someone whose body is aging might just be able to contribute a thing or two to the common dialogue – and that thing or two will be laced with wisdom, wit, and grace.

Honey bees seem to flit from flower to flower. Never still. Always moving. But in their movement, they have a purpose, a job to be done. Watch one closely and you’ll see that it’s not just moving, but carrying out a profound task. One that I, who uses honey in my tea, personally appreciate.

The same holds for the seniors in our midst. You might look upon them as they move more slowly up a set of stairs of down a store aisle and think that they are not doing much of import at all. And you’d be wrong. For, despite all that weighs them down relatead to aging, they are living and moving and making themselves part of society. Think about that next time you’re too tired to lift a finger. I know I will!

So, although I missed National Honey Bee Day, I certainly give kudos to the tiny, buzzing creature that’s ever-moving and alive. And as for National Senior Citizens Day, well, why just a day? Why not a year? Why not all the time? Because, yes, theirs is still a vital contribution and an inspiration that has no cut-off time.

Peace,

Maureen