The Marvels of Aging

 Now that we are advancing in age we want to share the following to let you know what to expect in your golden years.  

These thoughts come to us in the heat of the afternoon while sitting in our favorite chairs or after that nightly pee when going back to sleep is a big challenge.   Some of this is implanted in our brains from catalogs and other literature we receive in the mail these days.   They offer the latest devices for aiding the elderly in the bathroom or keeping our fronts clean while eating, or helping us move from our chairs via ejecting seat cushions, or touting the latest vitamins and ointments to keep us young.   We wonder how they know our age, or have our children given them our mailing address? 

 

One thing to look forward to, if it hasn't already happened because of rock concerts you attended, is a decline in your hearing.  We have been tested and hearing aids have been recommended. One of us purchased some and finds hearing improved (though not perfect--nothing is ever perfect).  Some of our friends have hearing aids, but still seem to ask us to repeat ourselves or can't hear when there is too much background noise. Or do we really want to hear what our spouse is saying during those serious conversations?   Do some of us not want to make the investment with rumors of our social security and medicare being cut?  And, when it comes down to it, does our government view us just as old bodies using up oxygen and taking up valuable space?

Older men can have deep intimate thoughts about their facial hair.  They especially ponder how long would those nose and ear hairs get if not trimmed?  Has any man just let them grow to find out?  Could Mike be the first, or would it be too traumatic for Celia to appear in public with him? And can we solve the mystery of why a man's perfectly normal body hair suddenly migrates to one's back after the age of about 50, and women's arm flesh sags downward as if being drawn by an invisible magnet.

If nothing else these types of thoughts distract us from all the politics and uncertainty of the world today and maybe soften our grasp on reality so that we can continue to find happiness in being alive.

 These may be great questions for you to ponder as the years go by.  

Crisis at the movie

 

While attending a movie yesterday afternoon with some friends an alarm goes off in the theater.   In addition to the sound of the alarm white lights are flashing on the walls.  My first thoughts is this some kind of drill, a joke or is there some person with a gun shooting people in the lobby.   Then a voice comes over the speaker telling us there is a fire in the building and please exit outside.  Slowly people make their way to the exit as the movie continues to play.  Before we depart I reach for the bottle of water we purchased in the lobby thinking it might come in handy in extinguishing any flames that we might encounter on our way out.  Everybody makes an orderly exist, including the elderly and a few disabled people.  Once outside in the parking lot we all mill around in disbelief not knowing what to expect next.  I look around for raging flames or a column of smoke, there is neither.   We notice an usher waving for us to return through the main entrance, so we make our way back into the theater as a fire truck arrives.   As we enter into the lobby fireman dressed in boots, yellow jackets and fire helmets stand guard and look as mystified as the rest of us.   The fireman do offer a sense of security by just being there.   There is a peaceful feeling that the fabricate of our society is still held together by some level of government that still functions properly.   While making our way through the lobby we  hear an usher say that some person had been smoking in a rest room which set off the alarm.   We find our seats, the movie is reset to where we left it, life returns to what we expect it to be and at that moment we are not sure what that is any more.