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No matter your current age; it can be said that we have all heard of the term "Golden Years."
What exactly are the Golden Years and what exactly makes them so golden? Is it due to our long-awaited retirement? Is it because we find the time to visit friends and family, we hadn't the time for? I think it goes a little more beyond these basics.
It isn't exactly a time, but perhaps a state. As you age you become a little more valuable, or golden, to those who love you. So precious like a gold coin, that we want to tuck them in a safe place to have a little longer.
Maybe, just maybe, we become "golden" or pure again like the child we once were. No matter how the term is used or what it means to you I know all will agree that as we enter this time, we each hope to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity that we gave throughout our previous years.
I am writing this with respect for my father, who has entered these golden years, and like many others, including myself, forgets where he placed his glasses, the remote or, as in this case, his keys.
You see, he was at Kroger's while my mother was having a procedure completed at the hospital. His mind, on my mother, weighed and muddled his ability to think straight. He placed his bags in the trunk but inadvertently shut his keys up as well.
While searching for his keys in a state of panic, a wonderful stranger came up to help him. He was so worried about my mother and getting back to pick her up that he couldn't recall phone numbers, nor did he remember the keys in the trunk.
After calming down with the help of the good samaritan, they decided to call a lock smith. Unfamiliar with this process in Elkins, you can not call for assistance from the city police as they do not unlock car doors. They called a local well-known gas station that has been around Elkins for many years.
I have always been taught to respect the elderly and to do unto others as you would want done unto you. I am very upset to know that this local gas station had my father pay well over $430 to shimmy his door open so he could get his keys. It took him no more than five minutes to get the door open. Shame on you! You charge far more than a deserving doctor and you just opened a car door for a 74-year-old gentleman!
Why am I writing this, one may ask? Because I want everyone to see that every golden coin has two sides. There is a side where a gentle soul helped my father in a time of much needed relief, and the ugly flip side, where he was taken advantage of due to his age and stress level.
I challenge all readers to stay on the right side. Try to enhance those golden years, to make a friend and be a friend, and to respect your elders and be the person who puts a smile on their face. I don't know who the good person was who helped my father but my family thanks you.
I advise anyone who has beloved elderly parents: Place phone numbers in their wallets, make copies of their keys, and above all help other strangers as you hope to be helped one day, when you too will forget.
Tracy Harlan
Coalton