I was talking to a nonagenarian in my neighborhood the other day about various things going on in each of our lives. I shared with her about my new eye glasses.  

She mentioned to me that she had just purchased new hearing aides and she was very pleased with the new apparatus. In fact, she had been so frustrated with her recent hearing loss compounded by the fact that none of the hearing aides she had sampled worked properly.

“I was starting to think I’m the only one with this problem. Nobody else seemed to have it. And then I spoke to my friend, Gwen. She told me ‘Are you kidding? Everyone and her sister wears a hearing aide?'”

My friend was so relieved that all her girlfriends also wore hearing aides. Also had to ask their families to repeat comments, and also had to sample several companies of hearing aides until they were satisfied.

That made all the difference to my friend, and she was now able to face each day, knowing that her disability was normal for her age.

I related to this feeling. We all feel comfort when we know that others share our struggles. We chat with friends, unload to them our problems at times, and feel a tremendous relief when others tell us, “Oh – been there and done that!”

I remember how old I felt  when I turned 44 1/2 (approximately) and had to stretch my arm out when reading books. It was (and continues to be) somewhat awkward that I have to take off my glasses that I use for driving, all because I want to read the print on a food label.

And when a friend shared with me that she is also going through the same things (and recommended bi-focals which I hate!), I felt instantly relieved.

And on the flip side of it, we can give other people comfort when we tell them that we too know what they are going through.

What bigger comfort is there for all of us than to realize that we are not alone?

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