8.27.15 Number one; number one

Sometimes in my practice I would ask older clients , who I knew very well, what they liked least about growing older . The reply was always the same . They felt like they lost one friend after another to endless , albeit understandable ,diatribes , about health problems . 

Now, this problem was #1, when friends dying was further down the list , so hard was it to have one friend after another slowly begin to talk of nothing else but what hurt ( pain really does suck) and what no longer worked ( really hard , again) and all the surprises and disappointments everyone just repeated over and over. , so friends never asked how you were today or talked about anything else. They began then to miss their friends, as if they were gone from them already .

I really sat up and took notice. Took mental notes . 

Wondering how we can be aware of this enough to support each other surmounting disappointment and pain and surprises enough to still be present and connect with each other and empathize and laugh and share the day.