Mother’s Day is a perfect time for remembering the elderly. After all, for children involved in the caretaking of their mothers, when challenging times arise marking a day like this past Sunday can be a good reminder of all that they have given you.
In addition, for the elderly who are not able to do so much for themselves anymore, it is a good reminder of all that they did do back in the day. In this article we take a look at some of the ways the elderly were able to celebrate and mark this special day.
In India, a group of youngsters helped the elderly celebrate the special day with a group of youngsters who came to visit the elderly at the Sahrudaya Old Age Home. Sulakshya Seva Samithi bought a specially-designed cake to share with the 50 inmates, alongside sweets, snacks, badam milk (a type of almond saffron milk) and a festive lunch. As Usha Dayal, Joint Director of Agriculture in the region pointed out: “Respecting elders is one of the prominent features of Indian family system and mother is the first teacher and backbone of our support. Mother loves us unconditionally and sacrifices her life for the well-being of children.”
And then in Singapore, the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took time out of his busy schedule to salute all the mothers, wishing them a happy Mother’s Day in a Facebook post these words: “Mothers are the pillars of our families, with one of the toughest jobs of all. Nowadays they raise children, build careers, care for elderly parents, or even become the sole parent in a family.” But, he added, no matter what, the unconditional love and support provided by mothers “remain[s] strong and steadfast.” As such, Loong called for a “celebration” of these women and their contributions as “leaders, caregivers, providers, and role models.” He added, “Take time today, and everyday, to show your mum how much she means to you!”
Loong put his money where his mouth was as well when he started distributing pink carnations to mothers in Hougang Avenue 8 to show his appreciation for the demographic.
And then of course – especially when it comes to our aging loved ones – it’s a good idea to use this special day to keep ourselves in check. As Chandrika R Krishnan pointed out in a recent article in The Quint, this is a time to remember to patient, because it wasn’t so long ago when our mothers did that for us; no matter how many times we asked her to read the same book, or look at the same bug, etc. Because now we are truly “parenting a parent,” and this scenario is only going to continue as the aging population increases over the next few years.