Growing Old Is Not for the Meek

Book excerpt: Growing old, I have many things to be grateful for. The young lady I met after getting out of the Navy (I still can see her after fifty years), the petite five-foot skinny long brown hair to her shoulder, brunette, she wore blue slacks with a checkered blue-and-white blouse. I will never forget the first sighting of her; the monument will live in my mind forever. I am grateful for my three children, my seven grandchildren, and my five great-grandchildren. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. After the loss of my wife after thirty-one years and firstborn, who found life too hard to handle, took the easy way out, not realizing that we all belong to someone other than ourselves; yes, it is my life, but is it? Who do we leave behind, and what is the repercussion from it? Without a doubt, people’s lives well be changed. I have many memories of our adventures, traveling to the many states across the United States of America. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” (St. Augustine). No one wants to live in the past. Anyone who is above the age of seventy has lived to tell you this is true. The worst thing about growing old is the ones you leave behind. Even worse are the items they left behind: the items you can touch remembering who gave them to you or the items you gave to them. For every house that has lost someone, their ghost or angel is still there walking around keeping you warm, a breath of fresh air with a scent when there is no scent for you to smell. Most individuals live on memories, wishing they could do some of their past again. My book is about life, and I am sharing it with you. I have made many mistakes; maybe you can adjust your life to make it a little better for those you care for.