*red links are clickable
You’re asking: Is he shilling for AARP? The answer is a clear NO!
It’s more of a response to the many birthday thoughts I received and a response to some of them.
69 is glorious. Yes, for those of you junior high students who still think of it as ‘an act,’ but more for those of you who refuse to play into the type. All good-natured, wishes indeed, but I wince at the joke emojis and gifs of people with canes, un-romantic marriages, bad drivers, forgetfulness, and many other stereotypes that make sense if you buy into it.
Cranky? Me? Moi? Yo? Moi? Mir? Humor has always been a part of my life, through my parents, my friends, and my people. Yeah, we found laughter in the shtetl.
There is an amazing verse in the song ‘Just No time at All,” from the Broadway show ‘Pippin.’
Here is a secret I never have told
Maybe you'll understand why,
I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young till I die
Now, I've known the fears of sixty-six years
I've had troubles and tears by the score
But the only thing I'd trade them for
Is sixty-seven more...
Death, illness, and financial troubles touch us in many ways but so does life, good health, and success (whatever it means to you) and it’s when we balance that to look back and say that it’s part of the deal, we try to find some kind of acceptance, not resignation. Been there, done that. And still doing it every day. And that’s a good jumping-off point.
(Sure, BK, it’s cloudy outside but the sunshine you’re blowing up my a** ain’t doing the trick). The truth is, it’s not a trick. We can decide what works for us, a glass half full or half-empty.
I only know what works for me, not you. But maybe I can help lead by example. I do not welcome some things in the future which are part of our existence. I may very well say it’s not fair, or bring faith into the equation. I can’t predict how I will react but if it’s true what they say that ‘past is prologue,’ then the past 69 years have kind of illuminated that path. Yes, a few bulbs may need to be replaced but I will use what I’ve learned to counter the darkness.
So, why the sudden epiphany? Well, it’s never been sudden. No one needs to grow older gracefully. What’s the fun in that? We don’t have to like what the future holds. There’s one thing to be sure of, there’s nothing to be sure of.
Someone once asked Gloria Steinem how does it feel to be 60. She replied:”I don’t know. What’s 60 supposed to feel like?’
So What is 70, 80 or 90 supposed to feel like? My mother-in-law is off to Las Vegas next week for her 91st birthday. The girls will take in shows, gamble and she’ll stay up to her usual 2am, only because her out-of-town mahjong tournaments are NEXT month. A good friend’s mother passed this year at 104 and made the best of it.
Maybe Jack Reimer in a 2001 Houston Chronicle column got it right. We will no doubt face many challenges as we navigate through seniority but as he noted:” Perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.”
My songbook looks interesting.
Once again you nailed it. Age is just a number. I refuse to buy into it, even though my body tells me otherwise. Lol. Nevertheless I turned 70 last year. This year I’ll be 69. Hoping to make it back to my fifties. ❤️
So well said.
Glad we agree that life is for living and every day is a blessing.