I listened to this man, my friend, and thought how right he is, but how hard it is to not be bitter or angry or even impatient with ourselves. I admit right here and now to being guilty and that is why I push my limits and that is why I constantly hit the wall and create pain. Neither Eddie nor Maxine does this.
And then Maxine jumps into the conversation with something so vital in one's ability to age gracefully that I couldn't believe I had omitted it altogether in my first column. You know what it is? It is laughter. It is the ability to have a good and healthy and ready sense of humor, especially about oneself. Maxine is a master at this. It is one of the main reasons Gene and I value our lunch date every Monday with these two friends. We always end up laughing.
To tell the truth, when Maxine and I get together, our completely silly, goofy, non-sensical parts of our brains just spring to life and make us do things and say things that are not even explainable. We simply get carried away with our own craziness and have been known to make certain gestures, make certain noises that attract the attention of the folks trying to eat a quiet and sane meal.
By that time, we don't even care.
But you know what? When we say good-bye until the next Monday, or impromptu phone call, we are totally spent from laughing and having an uncomplicated and uninhibited two hours together and it sets the tone for the rest of the week.
It has been my experience that many of us aging folks see nothing funny about our restrcted lifestyle and we fall into a generally negative state. This is not graceful. So, I submit these further thoughts on how to grow old gracefully.
I'll bet you have some ideas on how to do this. If so, let me hear from you.
Even if you are not aging, I'm sure you have someone in your life who is and we all need to help one another on this life journey.
The view from the hill is wondrous.
