How You Can Tell You Are Growing Old

Nature and time provide all the proof—physically, socially, and emotionally. After 84 years, I’ve learned to recognize the undeniable signs of aging:

• I have gold in my mouth, silver in my hair, and lead in my butt and legs.

• I’ve lost hair where I wanted to keep it—and grown hair in places where I wish it wouldn’t.

• My social calendar is increasingly filled with wakes and funerals of friends and family.

• My body parts are being replaced by devices, prosthetics, and transplants.

• My mailbox regularly contains offers from the Trident Society, encouraging me to prepay for cremation and interment. I’m in no hurry.

• People want to sell me life insurance. I saved wisely—and have none. So there’ll be nothing to fight over.

• And gravity? It’s no longer my friend.

Choosing Optimism

Still, I believe optimism is better than drowning in despair.

I’ve been blessed to live through one of the greatest periods in American history—marked by political freedom, economic opportunity, medical advances, and global leadership. May future generations experience even greater progress.

The Questions That Come with Age

Will I be the last of my loved ones to pass—the only one left to attend my memorial service?
And if so—will it matter?

Will my impossible dream finally be achieved—and if it is, will that mean my time is up?

Each morning, I wake up thankful that God has given me one more day to try to get it right—
And paradoxically, I worry that I might succeed, and that will be the sign the end is near.

While There’s Still Time...

• Tell those you love that you love them—every chance you get. That chance might never come again.

• Love sincerely.

• Work for a better country, and a better world, while you still can.

• Fight to save our planet—because it’s the only one we’ll ever have.

• Love one another, in spirit and in truth.

And never say goodbye.

Say, “I’ll see you again.”

~ Ray Blain