when you grow old ~ Stillness and Beyond

Have you ever thought about who’s gonna take care of you when you grow old?

In many case, and even in one of my occasional and (somewhat) selfish points of view, people do find this as a valuable reason for having children. I think about this more often when I see old women on footbridges and underpass alone and begging for alms, but I don’t have a good solution for that now. I almost had a husband and missed that chance again to have my own baby before I leave my 20’s. My family—sisters and cousins—shall sooner or later have a life of their own and maybe live in another continent. I have a bestfriend and some circle of female buddies who are also childless and single and some of us have talked about taking care of one another as we age. But I wonder what will actually happen to me.

I’ve read news recently about a famous writer-producer who passed away at 87 years old, surrounded by close friends. My newest lovely companion, being cynical, pointed out that that person was wealthy and famous, and therefore drew plenty of close friends hoping for their share of her inheritance. Trying to out-cynic him, I pointed out that that’s usually what happens but with distant relatives coming out of the woodwork for their share of the financial pie. But the point is, that is how I want to go—surrounded by people who choose to be with me.

So, plan A for my future is to be nice, take care of my friends and hope that they will take care of me until my very last breath in this world. Plan B is to become rich with my writings, get famous and buy my friends! Hahaha!!! Either way, I seriously hope to not grow old... alone.

Do you have a plan all laid out up until your old age? Tell me I’m not alone in this dilemma.