A few years ago, when I was having some back pain, I got a call from my doctor’s office informing me of the results of my x-rays. The nurse who was probably not as old as some of my clothes, informed me I had osteo arthritis. I was shocked and called my nurse/wife to ask her what it was and how I got it. Her friend in the neighboring cube either overheard the call, or perhaps, Patty summarized my query for her. The “friend” responded with one word, “birthdays.”
I suppose those birthdays cause a lot of things. I just had one and didn’t mind it a bit. It got me a couple of really nice dinners out and some cool Chief’s swag.
There is, however, a side to me that is a little fatalistic. I have been around death a lot. It went with the territory for all of those years when I was a pastor. Dad died about three years ago and Mom passed away just a couple of months ago. I am familiar with the process of aging and its abrupt end. My body is like an old car that’s beginning to need a visit to the garage once and awhile for some little thing that needs to be fixed.
Sometimes, I ponder all of this.
Really, I don’t have any complaints. I have no chronic conditions that I see in several of my contemporaries and I am more at peace with myself and others than ever before.
Like most people I feel like my life has been a strange trip of learning things the hard way. What many people would call success has eluded me. I have great ideas that don’t make money. So, if you ever need any advice in that department, give me a call.
Yet, I like an awful lot about where I am at this point in life.
I am doing things I like to do. I am blessed to have the freedom to do them. I have a wonderful wife with Job-like patience and Christ-like love. And I have adult children that I dearly love and really like, along with their partners and blessed offspring. I have four generations of family, which means I have great-grand-children. I have most of you beat there. As Patty and I approach retirement, we should be able to financially survive and otherwise thrive. I enjoy learning, listening to NPR (hope I didn’t lose you there) and reading. There are several things I enjoy.
It’s a pretty good life.
I don’t feel I have to control everyone’s life or get bent out of shape when some crazy twist or turn comes along. I believe myself to be much more mellow than I used to be (and I hope it’s true), but I am still passionate about things, too.
I still am a very flawed humanoid who does not have it all together, but I am less worried about it.
So, all-in-all this isn’t a bad highway to be traveling on.
Thanks for joining me on the journey.
Image Attribution: “Williams, Arizona” by Paul Minshall is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
