Seniors

So, as some of you know, I work at a senior apartment building. It's low-income housing and so much of the work I do is paperwork and assisting in the compliance department to get people moved in. When I first started the job, I never really thought about the people moving in and I was just focused on the task of interviewing people, reviewing their files, and getting them moved in.

What I've noticed over the last few weeks, as the tenants begin to move in one by one, is how many of them really are on their own. The building is for seniors, so everyone is 62 or over. Many of them tell me stories of how their loved ones have passed away, either recently or it has been many years. Many of them come alone and have no one to help them. A lot of the tenants are Korean and can't speak a lick of English so I translate for them with what little Korean I know.

I don't know why but it breaks my heart to see so many of the tenants on their own. Some of them do have family nearby but many do not and so they are left to survive on their own. When I look at many of them, especially the Korean tenants, I think of my own grandma and it's hard to not want to help them in whatever way I can.

I don't know, I feel like I'm reminded of how cruel and broken this world really is, that seniors late in their years, are left to themselves. In all honesty, it doesn't seem fair. Maybe because I'm young and I still have yet to really understand life. Maybe I'm just naive and unwilling to accept reality. Whatever the case, my heart breaks for these seniors.

Yet, I feel like I understand a glimpse of what Ecclesiastes means when it keeps saying, "All is vanity" because this world is fading away. It really is all vanity. This imperfect world will soon pass but heaven will be lightyears beyond what this world is. So, I'll take my hope in that.