Westport Center for Senior Activities

I squint to read the gold lettered Senior Center sign off of Imperial Ave because I'm running late and don't want to miss my turn. As I drive in, I'm thinking I'm having a harder time dealing with this vicious outside world and just want to get to place that feels safe. I've been to the Senior Center before and wish for a long moment that I would be old enough to come here regularly. I think about all that is offered for our seniors in our town and a little envious that I can't come here to participate in Jan's writing classes or take an art class or maybe some Tai Chi. I've got 6 more years until I qualify!

But I don't feel out of place or unwelcome when I've had the chance to participate. It's the opposite, actually. I am embraced and comforted and feel that this is how it should be. We take care of our elders because they have rocked us and fed us and fought wars for us. And so, living here in Westport and raising my children far from their grandparents, I've always had this nagging voice in my head that tells me, “This isn't the way it's supposed to be...”

Being here feels natural. It gives me a sense of community and makes me feel part of a larger family. I hear other people's parents and grandparents read their stories and feel deeply moved by their honesty and their losses and their great loves. They have let me eavesdrop...no...they have told me to pull up a chair and put another log on the tribal campfire and listen.

I leave feeling hopeful.