But if 10 people ages 2 to 80 are grouped together, they will fall into a natural age hierarchy that nurtures and teaches them all. For our own mental and societal health, we need to reconnect the age groups. Younger, healthier people sometimes avoid the old to evade fears of aging. If we aren't around dying people, we don't have to think about dying. Also, the more involved we are with the old, the more pain we feel at their suffering.
Death is easier to bear in the abstract, far away and clinical.
It's much harder to watch someone we love fade before our eyes. Sometimes it's so hard that we stay away from the people who need us the most. The culture reinforces our individual fears. The taboos against acknowledging age tell us aging is shameful. Fortunately, many of us find our way to the old.