Anybody got any stories like this?
A lot of little kids are super scared of elderly people, and I was one of those kids.
I was terrified of elderly people from the beginning and I have some sad and embarrassing memories surrounding some of my behavior.
Of course I couldn't be blamed because I was just a babychild, but it's sad to me only from the perspective of the elderly folks.
One time in church, I must have been 4 or 5 at the oldest, there was a super elderly woman who had Parkinson's or something that caused her head to wobble constantly as if she was shaking her head "Yes"...
So in the middle of prayer when everyone's eyes are supposed to be closed, I turn around in my pew and look at everybody and I see her looking at me and she's shaking her head "Yes" in my perception. I take it super personally and get all freaked out and start crying and shaking my head no at her...
My little babychild mind had no concept of a condition which would cause uncontrollable movement as such. It must have been very sad for her, and I just hope maybe she understood that I just didn't get it.
Another story is when I first met my great grandpa when I was probably 2 or 3... I was terrified of him and wouldn't let him hold me and wouldn't look at him without crying and hiding my face in my mom's shoulder. He gave me a teddybear that I never played with in childhood but will never forget. I didn't even get "into" stuffed animals til I was well into teenagehood, as an aside. Unfortunately that black teddy died in a fire and it only exists in my memory now. If I had it today, I would hug it and tell him I'm sorry I didn't let him hold me.
Then another time when I was a bit older, maybe 7 or so, my mom took me with her to visit my elderly aunt in a nursing home... there were a lot of very elderly folks there who would get a big smile on their face and try to reach out to me, but I would just cry and cry and hold my mom's hand for dear life.
There's a whole lot of hurt in this world.
A lot of little kids are super scared of elderly people, and I was one of those kids.
I was terrified of elderly people from the beginning and I have some sad and embarrassing memories surrounding some of my behavior.
Of course I couldn't be blamed because I was just a babychild, but it's sad to me only from the perspective of the elderly folks.
One time in church, I must have been 4 or 5 at the oldest, there was a super elderly woman who had Parkinson's or something that caused her head to wobble constantly as if she was shaking her head "Yes"...
So in the middle of prayer when everyone's eyes are supposed to be closed, I turn around in my pew and look at everybody and I see her looking at me and she's shaking her head "Yes" in my perception. I take it super personally and get all freaked out and start crying and shaking my head no at her...
My little babychild mind had no concept of a condition which would cause uncontrollable movement as such. It must have been very sad for her, and I just hope maybe she understood that I just didn't get it.
Another story is when I first met my great grandpa when I was probably 2 or 3... I was terrified of him and wouldn't let him hold me and wouldn't look at him without crying and hiding my face in my mom's shoulder. He gave me a teddybear that I never played with in childhood but will never forget. I didn't even get "into" stuffed animals til I was well into teenagehood, as an aside. Unfortunately that black teddy died in a fire and it only exists in my memory now. If I had it today, I would hug it and tell him I'm sorry I didn't let him hold me.
Then another time when I was a bit older, maybe 7 or so, my mom took me with her to visit my elderly aunt in a nursing home... there were a lot of very elderly folks there who would get a big smile on their face and try to reach out to me, but I would just cry and cry and hold my mom's hand for dear life.
There's a whole lot of hurt in this world.
