A few days ago, we attended an Aging Workshop at the local university. It was an all-day session and I must admit that I was disappointed in much of the presentation — not that it was bad, it just wasn’t what I had expected or was hoping for. Aging isn’t something that I think about much, but during some of the “lulls” at the workshop I got to thinking about different aspects of aging.
All through a lot of my life, in any given group I wasn’t the oldest, I was always the youngest. I was the youngest in my first grade class and the youngest in my high school graduating class. During my high school years, I was the youngest business man in Maysville, Oklahoma (I owned and ran a snow cone business.) The first few jobs I had after college, I was always the youngest in the office. Of course, over the years that began to change… even though sometimes I don’t act like it, now I am almost the oldest person I know.
I am thankful that I’ve experienced so many things — some wonderful, some very bad. I’m sorry that I’ve wasted so much time. I’m sorry that I’ve traveled so extensively and still only speak English. I’m sorry that I didn’t meet Claire earlier in my life. My reactions are slower, my eyesight is declining, people’s names (more) often elude me and my energies must be used wisely. But even so, I often feel full of energy and not at all “old.”
Andy Rooney once said, it’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone. I guess that’s probably true, but there’s only one alternative to getting old — so suck it up!
— 30 —