A STORY FOR THOSE WITH ELDERLY PARENTS

(This story is posted here specially for those of us with elderly parents in their 70s or 80s.)

An 80 year old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 year-old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow perched on their window.

The father asked his son, "What is this?"

The son replied, "It is a crow."

After a few minutes, the father asked his son the second time, "What is this?"

The son said, "Father, I have just told you "It's a crow".

After a little while, the old father again asked his son the third time, "What is this?"

At this time some expression of irritation was felt in the son's tone when he said to his father with a rebuff, "It's a crow, a crow."

A little after, the father again asked his son the fourth time, "What is this?"

This time the son shouted at his father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times 'IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?"

A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary:-

"Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again for 23 times. I did not at all feel irritated. Rather, I felt affection for my innocent child".

While the little child asked him 23 times "What is this", the father had felt no irritation in replying to the same question all 23 times and when today the father asked his son the same question just four times, the son felt irritated and annoyed.

So..

If your parents attain old age, do not repulse them or look at them as a burden, but speak to them with kind words. Be patient and considerate to your parents. From today say this aloud, "I want to see my parents happy. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered their selfless love on me.They have sacrificed to make me a person presentable in society today".

Say a prayer to God, "I will serve my old parents in the BEST way I can, no matter how they behave.