Old Romance

Romance is for the older generation. There is a movie about the truths of aging romance: "Love Among The Ruins", an unforgettable film. Romance isn't the heat of passion or the search for a life mate or the greed of the need. It's something without time or brilliance or serving delicate egos. It's about knowing that what you see in someone else is not demanding or selfish or needy. It's about seeing someone warm and just there, nearby and with them, a time, a few moments or hours or days when everything is okay and life is beautiful. It isn't necessarily candle light or roses or champagne, but it could be. It might be a campfire or a beach or a moon or an old cosy couch. There are no rules regarding romance, other than looking into someone's eyes and recognising that it is a mutual feeling. That's why older age is the most romantic time of life. It senses the true meaning of romance. You don't need backgrounds of wealth or position or ambition. You have no far reaching goals to serve, you just are loving the immediate time you have with someone else. It's a time that makes no demands of you. You don't have to perform or look classically beautiful, you know that the eyes looking back, find you perfect, and all you have to do is feel the same way. Aging romance removes all of the stress of these parameters that the young have to deal with. While younger romantics are caught up in serving the fashion of the day, being financially sound and moving upward and onward, elders don't have these tensions. They've been there and done that, and all they want to do and be, is to enjoy the peace and happiness of the moment. They have the time to make that ambition achievable.  The problem is, for elders, to find the other person. Most of them, us, is that they don't favour the on-line coffee date routine. They sit in malls and dream that passers-by just might be the right ones. Or they loll in lounge chairs in "homes" sorting through their past lives and all of the loves they loved while hoping there might be someone real and near to share their moments. Or they sort through their lists of Facebook "friends" and emote over their many choices should the faces come alive in their imaginations. It's kind of sad really, but it makes these persons, the greatest of romantics. Some very fortunate elders, find a romantic interest, but they are not able to do the candle light and wine moves due to the objections of their own relatives or the restrictions of their physical states or their personal hang-ups or the disapproval of other society members. "Oh come now, you're too old for that stuff", they chide. These people aren't "there" and don't get it.  But the need for romance is a private and personal matter and aging never cuts that off. It's not something for relatives  or "home" managers or society in general to pronounce judgments upon or dictate rules about. The aged know most about true romance because of their ages. They feel romance. They seek romance. As much as any others, they need romance.