On Being Old

An Opinion Does "old age" have its own rewards? I have reached a point in my life when I am inclined to say: yes. Yes. Often, old age is accompanied by aches, in body and in mind. Our youthful vigor is long gone. We miss those no longer with us. Age does not magically bestow mythical "wisdom" as is trumpeted. I am not very much wiser at 81 than I was at scarcely fourteen. Somewhat slower on the uptake, I'm no hungry sponge absorbing input without loss of clarity or of comprehension. Aged, I have hearing deficits, "mental fogging", and don't control strange stray thoughts. Even my delusions aren't as vivid. This is due to hormonal changes as I age. I'm greatly bothered by absence of family, treasured friends...and lovers. I mean all those I myself have loved, platonically or otherwise. I do not tout a rapid end to life. Despite discomfits, it's much better to be alive --- save for agonizing pain -- than to be unrevivably dead. Living in others' memories is poetic but isn't an incentive for terminal departure. I've listed my unpoetic opinion. I encourage all: live life. Have no thought or wish to speed its end. Nonexistence is permanent, ever looming -- unavoidable. Live and derive pleasure and some worth from our unique (but very common) human process of growth and aging. At all its stages life's much more than paltry preparations for an ending. We are lucky to be old, human, organically still viable. Live with the intent to thrive!