Center is life-saving haven for island seniors

Published 12:22 pm Tuesday, November 10, 2015

I am a member of the Vashon Senior Center.  The center is open four days a week for lunch, which is provided at a very reasonable cost. It is the only meal some seniors get during the day. Transportation is also available for those who need it.

For me, the center is lifesaving. I once was a very active person, immersed in my teaching and extracurricular, outdoor activities with my students. Getting old is difficult for a person like me. It is isolating. Partial blindness, partial deafness and crippling arthritis inhibit my activity and make my social interaction more challenging.

The center is a haven where I feel people really care and friendships thrive. When I disappear I know I will be missed (and in an odd way, that’s comforting).

There is no social strata at the center: It doesn’t mater whether a person was once a famous writer, a scientist with a PhD or a store clerk with a high school education. When approaching the void, background doesn’t matter anymore. Everything we once worked so hard for now seems meaningless and distant.

We sometimes discuss politics or religion or world events, but it only matters for our children and grandchildren’s sake. We know it will not affect us personally. The thing that matters is that we are together today; yesterday is past, tomorrow may never come. I wish the center was open every day.

— Lawrence Dean