Twilight years time to remember those glory days
I remember when I was young, I was the dream boy of my class.
Not only was I tall and handsome but I was the leader of a basketball team and girls cried for me when I was playing.
I was always the best in the team, but now I can't even pick up a basketball.
Time is going so fast. I am already 68.
I miss the time when I was still a teenager but I cannot go back.
All I can do is sit beside the basketball court and remember. I know lots of friends here.
Some of them imagine they are the teenagers who are playing on the court.
Most have been ignored by their families. They have homes but there is no warmth, so they come here to find friends.
I think I am the luckiest among them. I have a son, who loves me and takes care of me.
His shop door is always open and I can go whenever I want.
A social worker came this morning. She said there was a centre for the elderly at Jordan and welcomed us all to join.
Finally, it seemed there was a real place for us to go - but we live in Mongkok and hoped to have a centre nearer our homes. Although the centre is a little bit far, I will still go there because it is the only place we have. They said 'sorry', we couldn't have one closer.
I feel sad because my friend Miss Lam died yesterday.
She died in a car accident while she was picking up drink cans in the road.
Miss Lam was a funny person. She was alone, having no children, and was single, but she always smiled and never said God did not treat her well.
Her happiness could make you feel happy too.
When she noticed you were unhappy, she would make jokes until you were laughing again.
Her other quality was that she was hard-working. 'If you don't work, you are wasting your life,' was her motto.
So she never accepted elderly allowance and earned everything with her own hands. Now though, God would like her to spend her time in heaven.
I don't know when I will have to close my eyes but I hope that all elderly people have some happy memories so that they can close theirs with a smile on their face.
Wing-sze is student of Shung Tak Catholic English College Are you a budding writer with wit, style and a bag full of anecdotes? Write to: Personally Speaking, Sunday Young Post, 3/F Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, or fax us on 2660-5378. Tell us which school you attend. Your articles must be original work
