On Aging

Last night, the bus driver was telling me about his 93 year-old grandmother and some wise words she'd said to him a few years ago.  He said, "I'm just learning as I go." "We all are, I replied, no matter how old we get."

We're never just a finished product; we're in constant flux, mostly one of growth, but sometimes we shrink.  Pain-inducing information, negative interpersonal contact, ugliness, can cause a temporary withdrawal, but eventually we must return and connect with one another.

I get to have conversations like this a lot more often now that I am in my sixties.  I find that I am able to enjoy this new-found contact with people, especially young people who want to tell me what their grandmothers said.  My driver's grandmother is coming out for a visit soon, and I reminded him to tell her what her advice has meant to him.  My dad just died, and my opportunities to thank him personally have passed, but I can practice gratitude by trying to emulate his kindness, his tolerance and his own great store of wisdom.

My dad and my brother Greg