All right, I’ll admit it, damn it: I’m getting old. I don’t have the stamina I used to have, when I would take off on open-ended globe-circling adventures, and I am being treated for two types of cancer. Even worse, I am an empty-nester; all my sons have grown and gone. And so I seek out social situations where I can connect with like-minded or at least congenial people. When I received an email announcing a “Resource Fair for Older Adults” and realized it was close by, at Magnuson Park on the shore of Lake Washington, I decided to check it out. The notice exclaimed that over ninety organizations, agencies, and businesses would be in attendance, and there would be snacks, trinkets, and lottery prizes. The location, Hanger 30, evoked a pang of nostalgia and a remembrance of joy, as it is the same place where the Seattle Friends of the Library used to hold their massive book sales. My youngest son and I would hike down the hill to the park and return with backpacks bulging with used books and DVDs. The main reason I went this time, though, was that I hoped to find some meet-up or activity groups that fit my interests.

I took a bus down the hill and back up; as I mentioned, age is catching up with me, and my aching knees would have disagreed with the steep slopes. When I arrived and entered the vast interior, I realized that the table displays were arranged so that it would be easy to stroll along, back and forth, and contemplate the offerings as one might peruse the shelves in a supermarket. I quickly located some kindred spirits; there were representatives from the Seattle Public Library, Medicare and Medicaid, the local utility discount program, and charities that specialized in assisting the homeless.

I soon realized, though, that most of the presentations were by for-profit businesses that made their money by targeting the elderly: counseling services, medical groups, and assisted living facilities. These had the gaudiest displays of freebies and the attendants with the biggest, phoniest smiles. I recognized the name of one chain of old folks homes I had recently read an article about; it was an expose, in fact, concerning the owner becoming a multi-millionaire while the residents of his facilities had to contend with insufficient supplies and inadequate and untrained staff. I often pass one of those facilities on the bus; it always strikes me as more resembling a prison than a place where a person can rest near the close of life.

I’d come to the gathering with high hopes, but I left disappointed after only about half an hour. There wasn’t much of what I had been looking for; overall, the visit was quite depressing. Afterwards at home I read a news article that further compounded the gloom. It concerned a man who had gifted some of his excess wealth to his grandchildren, but shortly afterwards he suffered a stroke and had to enter a nursing home. These facilities generally charge $10,000 or more a month; he soon ran out of savings, and then before he was able to obtain Medicaid, which is supposed to assist seniors in these situations, the government clawed back the funds he had given to his grandkids, causing their families undo financial stress. It made me realize how broken the system of caring for our older citizens is in this country. Whatever happened to respecting and even honoring the elderly? And now certain politicians with selfish mindsets are trying to cut Medicaid even further. These ruminations put me in gloom for a few hours. I managed to snap out of it, but with the lingering awareness that it should not be so difficult and expensive to take care of our aging loved ones. Other countries have figured it out; why can’t we?