Diogenesister, that is very interesting to me, so this lady you mentioned has traveled all over the world and probably done a lot and is now unhappy and lonely. I've met people who have not traveled at all, have not done much in their life and have lived in the same place all their life with the same person and yet are extremely happy in their 80s -90s
Hey JohnA
re: the Walkill folks I think what I mean is that belief may not even be an issue anymore. As is often pointed out its the social thing that attracts them.
My elderly friend has a lot going wrong with her physically and hates it. Getting old if you are sick is lousy, lets face it, and as you mentioned she has done a lot and she is railling against losing her health and old age which she did not expect to happen.
In her case though, I think what really hurts is she lost her husband & daughter to alcoholism many years ago and I think the thought of never seeing them again, which has always been her hope, is worrying her very very much.
She has been through a lot. She came to england from Jamaica, following a husband that she loved in the days when it was hard for a black person to find work or a place to live. She told me she cried many tears. She worked washing dishes at first, even though she was a seamstess, as it was the only job a black person could get, and brought her five brothers and sisters over. They all paid her back in full. She told me told me the only people that would employ you in better jobs where Jewish, and eventually got a job as a seamstress.
Added to her daughters death and bad health I think her sadness comes from the changes in the org and having to face a death she was promised to be exempted from.