I am a retired English instructor who worked primarily with
young writers within advanced high school English and college writing
courses. In addition to this attempt at
blogging, I am currently writing adventurous stories with my seven-year-old
grandson and three-year-old granddaughter.
Actually I am not doing any of the writing – just acting as their
secretary.
Retired now for a number of years, I am exploring blogging
in an attempt to get back into a fun stream of activity where I might share
experiences with other “boomers” who may need an ear or who might want to laugh
together at some of life’s more interesting experiences that so many of us have
in common. Laughter helps sometimes…even
a smile and a nod work.
For the past several months I have been celebrating my 65th
birthday, and along with the fun, I have been thinking seriously at times about
growing older. As a good friend of mine
has said, “…aging really is an amazing event.
I would hate to miss it.” As I
sort things out in my mind, I keep coming back to focus a bit on a conversation
with a family friend who at the time of our talk had recently celebrated his
100th birthday. This was a man who put away his bicycle at age 95
and once replied to his doctor’s suggestion that he take some Tylenol, by
saying that “he didn't do drugs”.
Anyway -- He was talking about
his life and continuing good health. He said he had avoided arthritis by
milking cows by hand (literally) and stayed in shape by moving around and
avoiding lollygagging in general. He
emphasized that it was important to get up – not to sit too much in your
favorite chair. I listened and thought…
Too late for me on the cow milking thing…. I am not even
going to comment on lollygagging in general, as I am not even positive that I
know what that is. Finally, it occurs to
me that both my propensity to play too much Candy Crush Saga and my new
interest in blogging are both done while seated, and… I do love my favorite
chair. I am thinking that all this does
not bode well for my personal longevity based on his standards. Am I compensating by telling myself that I am
not sure I want to live to be over 100 years old anyway?
