It started a few years ago when I was near the front of a group of people about to open double doors and walk through. Someone reached for a handle and pulled. Instead of the expected elbows and stampede, the person holding the door stood in place looking at me.
What? Did I step in something? Am I about to? I looked around quickly and realized – this respectful younger person was holding the door open for an old person, me. My first time. I guess it’s my turn.
It’s a generational thing. A peer thing. My peers and I started out about the same time – give or take a few years. That’s why we’re peers! The timing of our individual departure from this earth will vary greatly, but between the starting and ending points, I’m among a lot of people with a lot in common, doing a lot of the same things, at about the same time in life.
At one point, my peers and I were happily learning to walk. At another, the bulk of us were learning to drive. Before long, most were getting married. The majority made babies. In a relative flash, my wife and I, and most of my peers were becoming grandparents. Many rode the wave of retirement. Sure, there were lots of exceptions, but that’s life. Are they really exceptions if they are part of the norm?
My body issues regular status reports warning of maximum wear limits. Parts of me are getting old and can’t deny it. Parts of me deny getting old, refusing to believe it.
I was talking with an old friend (older than me!) and he asked rhetorically, what’s happened to us? We used to talk about cool cars and hot women… Now it’s prostate issues and medication side effects.
What’s happened to us? I’ll bet I know! We’re still in this game of life playing the hand we’ve been dealt. I’ll see your biopsy, and raise you a Stem Cell Transplant! Read ’em and weep (rhetorically)! Read ’em? Where are my glasses?
It’s a generational thing, and here we are. It’s our turn to be the old folks. This is not an assignment for sissies. I try to remember it’s a kind of honor not everyone gets to experience.
I’ve been digitizing pictures for my aunt and found this one of me in her collection. I had never seen this photo of my original family.