Inspirational: Adopt an Elderly Soul This Holiday Season

by: Linda Kirby/WGON 11.26.25

Remember when Thanksgiving meant a house so full of guests it nearly worked you to death—days of baking, endless pots simmering, and ovens glowing late into the night? Yet you did it with joy. You were giddy at the sight of pies cooling on the counter, turkeys roasting, and casseroles lined up like soldiers, each dish prepared with love. The anticipation of family arriving—faces you hadn’t seen in months, sometimes years—was the icing on the cake.

Oh, how you loved those days. Grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousins tumbling through the door, nieces and nephews sneaking cookies when they thought you weren’t looking, even friends who felt like family. All gathered at your house, because that’s where the good times were. That’s where the food was. Most importantly, that’s where the love was.

You can still hear it—the menfolk shouting at the football game in the living room, clapping at every touchdown. You remember sending your husband back to the store for the third time because you’d forgotten one more ingredient. You recall the women bustling in the kitchen, gossiping while finishing the last dishes. You remember the children at the card table, giggling as they bowed their heads to pray. And then, everyone’s hands joined around the big table, thanking God for the bounty before you.

Those were wonderful days.

But now, decades later, you are the old one. Grandma and grandpa are gone. All the family of your generation have all gone home to be with the Lord. You have outlived them all. Even your own children have moved away and can’t be home for the holidays. Grandkids are in college and can’t visit either. Now you sit. Alone.

You look out the window at cars passing by, imagining they’re headed to family gatherings. You sigh. You watch the birds flutter past, the wind stirring the trees, and you realize—you are alone again this year.

This is not just your story. It is the story of countless elderly souls. Many live this reality not only on holidays, but every day. Once upon a time, neighbors looked after one another. People invited the lonely in. They carried plates of Thanksgiving dinner to the shut-in and stayed to chat. That was the “good ole days.”

Now, too often, people are wrapped up in themselves. Even Christians forget the command to care for the widow and the fatherless.

I, too, reminisce about those wonderful days. I have outlived the family I grew up with. Though I am blessed with children and grandchildren now, I still grieve the loss of those enormous gatherings filled with laughter, love, and the warmth of generations. And I know the pain is far deeper for those who have no one left.

Many elderly are widows or widowers. Some have family who live far away. Others have relatives who simply don’t keep in touch. And so, they sit alone.

This holiday season, I urge you: adopt an elderly person. Invite them to your table. Bring the shut in a plate of food. Sit with them. Listen to their stories. Let them feel love again. Do not let them endure another holiday in silence.

If you do, you will not only bless their heart—you will store up crowns in heaven.