On Aging

When one reaches the edge of codgerville, just outside fogeytown, it's only fitting to stop and reflect how...what was I saying? Oh, yes, the years lay strewn haphazardly like fallen oaks. The leaves of time lie shriveled and unraked. Memories gather like distant relatives at a family reunion. 

Someone came up with the idea that people should age gracefully. I'm more of a Dylan Thomas adherent:

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Someone else suggested that people are only as old as they feel. Another truism states that age is a state of mind. I think Satchel Paige said it best, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" (Do the math)

I suspect that the disregard and disrespect we often display toward the old comes from fear and misunderstanding, like all of our prejudices and biases. Some cultures are known for their reverence and veneration of the eldest members of the clan. Others not so much. We fear aging because we fear death.

So, as I am certainly in my final quartile, I continue to get and give meaning with as much gusto (and rage) as I can manage. Who knows what lies ahead before the last leaf falls.