The Old Man In the Mirror

You think it a lie, seeing that old man in the mirror: some imposter taking your name, living in your house, calling out to your wife as though he had married her 40 years ago and not you... what can the old fellow want of you, you wonder, and would ask, but you fear his laughter.... So you never speak with him and he runs the place just as he sees fit: sleeping late, eating early, taking a nap and going for brief walks when you'd prefer a jog. He also doesn't care much for taking those long drives you love so much--too, too far away from comfy home. A thousand carefree miles is but a dream to you, while he shudders like it's climbing Mount Everest! Worst of all, he is less patient with the myriad fools of the world-- so he'll rant and rave when clerks misbehave. And his politics! Right and right he feels, caring naught for the downtrodden masses. Yet he is kinder than you ever were, more thoughtful of others, more giving, less taking. He loves his friends and doesn't seduce women only to leave them empty. Best of all, the old man loves God-- he won't see belief as folly, for he has learned the real illusion is mortality, so he knows death is a door, not an impregnable wall. You could learn much from the old man you share a life with, but you won't, for you are young-- what are God and death and endless soul to you...?