I recently made a trip to SC. This is a journey I have made on my own, driving myself, on several occasions with no problem. This time was different. Not only did I get sick while there, I was totally exhausted while trying to come home. I didn't bounce back. What should have taken me 7 hours with a stop for lunch and gas, with time left over to do chores when I got home took me two days and an extra night in a motel (The Day's Inn in Darien, GA, is a nice place, BTW) just to get myself and the rental car home.
I'll be 70 in July. I am reasonably active and enjoy going places but it seems my body has other ideas. We have a month, here, jam-packed with doctor's visits, tests and pokings and proddings. Hubby is 75. I see all those active, bubbly seniors on TV and wonder what they are taking or smoking. We are not those people.
We also have friends facing the big one. It seems that the older one gets, the more you will see people around you succumbing to heart disease, cancer and strokes. I lost an old friend just a couple of months ago to heart disease. The wife of a man I have known since he was a toddler is dealing with stage IV lung cancer.
Hubby and I have had the "final arrangements" talk. His first serious girlfriend, a year younger than he is, died right after Christmas. The older you are, the closer the reaper wields his scythe among those you know. I have one big request of my loved ones...when my time comes, make sure they don't let me hurt. Other than that, nature will have its way. I am not afraid of the end. It is just a very long rest after a lot of wear and tear. The only difference between death and a good night's sleep is that you don't dream and you don't wake up. I'm cool with that. When it comes to me and my husband, I will admit to the very selfish wish that I might go first. Dying, so it seems to me, is not as hard as watching someone you dearly love do the dying.
I think the thing that worries me most is what kind of condition this nation and the world will be in as we pass it on to the next generation. Things are pretty bad now and, I fear, could get worse unless the rest of the Progressives and Liberals who like to talk a good talk but have no real idea of the practicalities, get on board and realize we have to take it in steps. No, a moderate Democrat is not your dream POTUS but look at the alternative. The Libertarians talk a good talk but research them and see where they really stand when it comes to violence against minorities and women and caring for the poor. Not no but HELL no to that bunch.
Some of us keep up an impassioned plea for sense, compassion and integrity in our governing bodies and some others of us talk but don't walk. Yes, I have a problem with people who don't vote. As the old county song says, "There ain't no Tens." Human beings are running for office..not all your favorite liberal icons rolled into one. These human beings are the ones who understand that there is more to the job that leading a liberal revolution. They are the ones who know that they are not going to get all that we want but know that we stand a better chance of getting some of it if we can give them the support. These politicos are not only leaning to the left, they are doing so in a realistic manner and things have happened if you have been watching. GOP/Tea Party fear-mongering is eventually going to devour itself. The infighting has already begun.
So be glad that there are some of us old farts, in the sunset years, who remember the idealism and hope of the 60's and still believe that Lennon was saying something important when he wrote "Imagine." Not all of us have turned into pin-striped, Volvo-driving, fat cat conservatives. Liberal seniors are alive and well (for now) and we just need our input appreciated. Believe it or not, your best source of learning and information is dying off. Don't let us go without trying, at least, to understand what we have learned from years of life. It's going to be up to those coming after us to finish what we have tried to start.
Peace.
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