“Old Age,” “Golden Years,” “Twilight Time,” “Geezerville” – what shall I name this chapter of my life? What will you title yours?
All of us have stages of life which could be captioned “Toddler Times,” “Youthful Years,” “Adult Age,” “The Elderly Era,” even “Good Old-Fashioned School Days.” All share life’s passing periods and are categorized by them.
My category in this one is “Senior,” so stamped by my white hair rimming a euphemistically dubbed receding hairline, along with weathered features, crinkly skin and the shuffling steps of spinal stenosis. Yes, I am acutely aware this chapter is not entitled “Youthful Years!” That chapter was read long ago.
How do I read the current chapter? Is it the Final Chapter in my story? Or is it another life stage whose chapter caption could be “Survivor Stage” – many travel to it, but all don’t make it this far. I am exceedingly thankful I have survived, first through anticipating this chapter’s arrival, and now that I continue to survive after it has arrived.
Actually, I turned the first page of this chapter over two decades ago: “The Essence of Age.” I am delighted if you, the reader, have also experienced its appearance in your storyline. This chapter offers joys, heartaches, frustrations, fears, comforts, pains, meds and delights. It includes Supplemental and Advantage Plans…Medicare!
If you are in the same chapter, you know the calmness of hailing a New Year on television from your recliner instead of within a celebratory crowd. For me – perhaps for you – it’s difficult to tag this time. It is uncharted waters for me – a map in the making.
As a child, my parents charted my course, as did church and school. Through “The Maturing Years” chapter, goals were certain and solid – earn a degree, secure a good-paying job, marry, have a family, work until retirement, and collect a pension with Social Security and Medicare. Life’s path was plotted in sure sequences. Waters were already charted and maps already made.
Life may not sail charted waters nor follow a made map. Divorces occur. Jobs end. Illnesses befall. Crossroads appear. Changes happen. Yet, from my perspective, those seem as conquerable challenges to those reading their “Younger Years” chapters. For me and perhaps most of you, those past tribulations were long-ago surmounted. Some may still chafe – like that promised position evaporating or the pension that went “poof!”
A day dawns slowly. The dark sky gradually greys. Salmon-colored light infuses the eastern horizon. A red sliver of sun tips into sight. Suddenly, the sun arises – the day is on! So it is with growing old. This phase, this stage, this age has been a long time coming. Abruptly it is upon us, you and me. This passing period seems strange. It is more mysterious, more unknown than those through which we’ve passed.
I don’t know how to be elderly. I’ve never been before. But I didn’t know how to be young or to be an adult until I was. I grew into those stages, as I’m growing into this one.
Aging is perplexing and puzzling, no matter one’s age. We continually confront imagined and real terrors and troubles of an age into which we are developing. With trepidation we may approach our “ripeness.” With apprehension we may nervously navigate stairs, porch steps and street curbs. With angst we may fret about next month’s bills being met via a fixed income battling an ever-rising outgo.
Yet, this period is thrilling and exciting; it is a time of explorations and discoveries of untapped potentials – a time of once again dreaming dreams thought long dead. This age offers possibilities of renewal, regeneration, and continued personal growth. It is a singular and distinctive chapter in our books.
What shall we name this chapter? How about “Great?”
Noah LeVia lives with his wife, Vashti, in Mesa, Arizona. Co-authors, they have published six books: http://www.loveshinebooks.com.
