inspired aging

I volunteer with the Boulder County Respite Care team, which matches community members with seniors who for various reasons have requested a friendly, helpful, weekly visitor. My current buddy is a beautiful 93 year old woman, and I eagerly look forward to seeing her each week.

Ours is truly a match made in heaven. She's feisty and independent and in excellent health, and her mind is sharp as a tack. The only thing she needs any help with is reading, because of her macular degeneration. So every week, I read to her from her Science of Mind publications, and we talk about concepts like energy follows attention and our thoughts create our experiences.


I am still in awe at the perfect synergy of our friendship. I was not familiar with Science of Mind or New Thought before I started reading to her - or more accurately, I was very familiar with the principles but did not know they were covered under that umbrella. I can hardly believe my good fortune that I get to spend two uninterrupted hours every week reading aloud the very concepts I most enjoy hearing. Adelle's radiant eyes and enraptured smile sweeten my joy into pure bliss.

She inspires me in so many ways. She's got a dental surgery coming up, and she's worried about it. And even as she is telling me this, she stops mid-sentence to rephrase: "And I am really looking forward to having it over with!"

Her upbringing was very strictly religious -- the kind of Catholicism that says God is always watching and you will never be good enough to satisfy him. Around the age of 65 she started hearing a brief five minute reading on the radio every morning as she got dressed that was like a soothing balm to her soul, which had always been deeply burdened by feelings of unworthiness.

Five minutes at a time, day after day, her burden was slowly penetratedby rays of light and awareness, until it became porous. Finally, she went in search of the local Science of Mind center that was sponsoring the radio segment, and started attending services regularly.

This magical transformation started at age 65. Sixty-five!! For 65 years she thought she was worthless. For her entire working life, she hid in the back of the office, never drawing attention to herself, feeling disposable, feeling afraid her unworthiness would be exposed to all. At her retirement party, even as she accepted the farewells and good wishes, she told herself that actually, they were glad to be rid of her.


When she was telling me this story, I noticed a tiny twinkle in her eye and a flicker of a smile cross her lips. I asked her why, and she said it's because the idea of being unworthy is just so impossibly funny to her now.

Recently, a friend of hers became upset with her for unknown reasons. Adelle told me that at first she felt sad and puzzled and worried that this friendship that she valued so much might be in jeopardy.

And then, just a moment's pause later, Adelle's face opened up into the most radiant smile. She told me that after just a little bit of sadness, she started remembering all the good times she had shared with her friend, and how much she had loved her for all these years, and her heart just opened up. She now feels compassion for whatever pain this misunderstanding must have triggered in her friend, and she said, "There must be something bigger going on that just hasn't been revealed to me yet. I just love my friend so much, and I'm sure this will all turn out okay."

Isn't she amazing? At an age when so many humans are closing down, she continues to open her awareness and compassionate heart wider with each passing day. She compliments me and thanks me for being in her life every time I am with her, and I tell her, "Honey, I'm not sure which one of us is actually the volunteer here!" It's an honor and a privilege to spend time with a being that is so devoted to growth and truth. She is expanding my vision about what is possible as we age. The body may diminish, but love and wisdom need never fade.