'I am right here'

One thing I've discovered about growing old: Do you use a cane, walker or wheelchair? Strangely, they seem to cause us to lose our status as thinking, speaking beings. The first time it happened to me, I was using a cane. A woman who had a form for me to sign looked over my shoulder at my daughter and said, " Can she sign her name?"

Since that first shock, I have come to expect such treatment from ushers, servers and others. I have learned to say, "I can talk, I can walk, I am right here."

Please treat us with dignity. We hate losing our physical independence. We are still here in body, mind and spirit.

MYRNA ROSENSTEIN
Squirrel Hill