We nonaligned folk periodically find it maddening when the aligned trot out their, Tis more Blessed to Give than to Receive.. as if their particular sect had a Corner on the market of putting-into-wprds What You Just Learn. (Had best learn, if you don't want to die as a Billy or a Trump)

[Present company excepted; nobody does That here - need I say?]

The 'Blessing' is in the achievement? discovery? of a level of consciousness unavailable to the self-obsessed. By any-other-name as will smell as sweet. The Universe RUNS on this energy.. D'Oh. :-0

Over the years I've known several women {then in their ~30s) whose avocation and sometimes livelihood was ~ taking care of the abandoned aged. And it was no "sacrifice". It's so corny/ineffective? when people try to 'explain' to the disinterested about such matters, in the 'West' - but then, they are understandably just trying to prod someone who's never Noticed.. quite a lot.

I've always felt it was a Big mistake when the priests got together to committee-write their manuals.. and codified so much that just can't be parsed by logic - a lot of metaphysical mischief has resulted IMhO. But there are signs of the sloughing-off of some of this mischief. {One learns never to ask 'Why'}.

But, as in your lovely story - sometimes the 'bonus' is both clear and palpable. I suspect that only experience works in such matters.

(I didn't get a chance to meet one such old lady..) who had lived a remarkable life, from her time as Earl Warren's personal secretary, when he was a D.A. in CA.. and onwards to USSC. Her early experience as one of a gaggle of (now many 'famous') early women pilots (!) was fascinating; there were a few pix of her and of them. Obv she was a good conversationalist on a variety of topics, esp, from time spent in East + artifacts, etc. Would like to have heard some of that.

I learned of this from the person who helped her, towards the end.. so it's 2nd hand. I did go along in the plane when it was time to sprinkle her ashes out over the landscape. Methinks she would have approved..
(and chortled over my 'cockpit cleanup' with the hand-vac, after we landed)

Yup, there are some Fun "old people" around :D


Ashton