There is no secret in simple truth: people have tendency to senesce and die. Obviously, old people are far more experienced and wise than youth, as they lived their long life with all its ups and downs. And they are often being left out and forgotten not only by society in general, but also by their relatives and friends.
Once, the former president of United States of America, Ronald Reagan, decided to put an end to this sad and extremely wrong social habit, so he declared a holiday, which he called National Senior Citizen Day. The purpose of this day is to honor and respect achievements and contributions of those, who lived their lives straight and honestly, perfecting our society and participating in developing and progressing of sciences and technical progress.
So, when is Senior Citizens Day in 2019? This holiday is annual and being celebrated on the twenty-first of August, so in 2019 it’s going to be on August, 21st, too. People will get in touch with their parents and grandparents, spend some time together and share important life stories that will help them gain valuable experiences of previous generations.
Why this day is so important
Imagine yourself as an elderly person with baggage of knowledge and experience behind your back. You lived fully and used to take everything from life. And now imagine that suddenly you have no physical strength to be active, to do sports or even just to visit your friends regularly.
Your relatives, your children and grandchildren are partially or fully left you, as they have their own things to do. All that left to you is memories and mental activities, but even that part of your everyday routine is difficult due to the fact that not only your body, but also your mind is weakened. Not to say that for most people only mental activity is simply not enough.
You need to share your memories; you need somebody to talk to. You need to make your gray life full of colors, but you are unable to do it by yourself. Sadly, you don’t have someone to help you by your side. In past you have helped with building better society, but now society forgot about you.
And now imagine sparkling light of hope. Imagine that there is whole special day that provides you with communication and helps you meet your family members. You even might expect that given this one day they will visit you more often during all year, not just on some special date.
That is why this holiday is so important – it brings hope and joy to those who have none left.
Senior Citizens in different cultures
After giving answer to what is the date of Senior Citizens Day 2019, we can talk about Senior Citizens themselves. Let’s take a look at problems, related to older parts of society, and their solutions.
The problem of elderly people started to become more and more actual only in previous century. That doesn’t mean that only nowadays moral principles are being shattered and depraved. The cause of this is simply the fact that earlier we just had not enough old people to consider their problems as substantial. The average life span started to grow only in nineteenth century, as prior to this point it was equal only to thirty years.
Throughout the history of mankind, especially in tribal times, old age was an attribute of most intelligent and strong people, as only those kinds of them were able to survive in cruel world. Situation didn’t change much in medieval times either. That’s from traditions of honoring the elderly are originated. Of course, nowadays, in times of free information and high-level education differences between old and young are being erased, but still seniors are much more experienced.
In European countries, sadly enough, problem of senescence is one of the biggest social troubles. Old people are often being left out; they have less power and possibilities and simply lack communication. That is what makes the question of what day Senior Citizens Day in 2019 so vastly important. This day is great opportunity to show love and care for all young folks all around the globe, not only in America.
The thing is, you don’t really need special day to visit your parents and show compassion. But with such holidays you have one more reason to do it. It’s, obviously, not an obligatory action in any way, but it’s still important and just good to perform it.
How to celebrate this holiday
National Senior Citizen Day is being celebrated in United States of America, but not as federal holiday, just observance. That means that every structure, postal and governmental offices, stores and libraries are working by their usual schedules in normal mode.
So, what people do exactly? They attend to various public services dedicated to celebration with their elderly relatives or simply go visit them at home. The point of this important date is to bring families closer together, no matter how.
Obviously, this is only half of reasoning behind this day. The other half is to commemorate and honor all achievements of seniors, same as their important role in modern society. As they have helped to perfect it in past, they have rights to gain gratitude and recognition now.
Once again, when is National Senior Citizens Day 2019? In case you don’t know this, remember that this day observed on twenty-first of August every year since 1988.
If you are an elderly person yourself, you may check stores and services for special discounts. Even some of the bars and restaurants are offering them, so don’t miss your opportunity to buy something good, while also saving your money.
Youth can attend to volunteering in retirement homes or hospitals and pay visit to those who doesn’t even hope to see visitors. Bring a smile to tired sad faces of lonely elders and fill their souls with warm feelings of importance.
To do this you need to ask something like when is National Senior Citizens Day in 2019 or look it up in the calendar. Then, you can select some kind of social activity, that you find most fitting for you, and begin to make world a better place for the people of all ages.