Mr. Billingsley

Book excerpt: My wife and I had the good fortune to be able to visit my mother several times at her assisted-living facility during her last years. While the church-run facility did an excellent job of looking after my mother during her final years, I was struck by the eventual transition of the residents from vibrant participants to frail elderly fringe beings. Within the four-month intervals between our visits, there could sometimes be stunning differences in the appearance and behavior of the residents we had come to know personally. Over the course of each passing year, multiple residents would either be moved to the adjoining nursing wing, go home to their families, and/or pass away. We witnessed how the natural aging process brought physical decline and social withdrawal to so many of the residents, despite the sincere efforts of the staff. My hope is that this book spreads awareness of the sad and inevitable ending so many seniors face. Too many spend the last years of their lives alone before taking their worldly accomplishments and contributions quietly to their grave, so often unacknowledged or underappreciated. Seniors are our personal history and most precious human resource. We, as a society, will be far richer if we love, listen to, and learn from them.