More Thoughts on Aging

Some decades ago, I remember a dear saintly parishioner lamenting the fact that she had no trouble understanding me, but when I moved on, my successor had a mustache which caused her to not be able to understand him completely. I thought to myself, how interesting. Now I know why. When our hearing gradually begins to fade, we react at times slowly, sometimes illogically blaming acoustics, volume or even some benign disruptions. There was a day when I could hear a pin drop. Not any more.

When I was much younger, a teenager, our City Mission sponsored a youth activity. One of the “games” we played was seeing who could find a Biblical verse the quickest. We all had our Bibles with us. We listened intently to the passage, and when the “gun went off” we scrambled to be the first to find the verse. Now, if I were to play that game, I'd come in last. My fingers have lost their elasticity to grip that agonizingly thin biblical paper. While teaching our church senior's Bible Study, I had trouble separating two 8 ½ x 11 sheets of note paper. When I asked if anyone else had this problem, I saw some affirmative nods. 

I received my driver's license when I was fifteen. Now, 70 years later, I still drive but less than ever. Why? Because I encourage my youthful wife to do more of the driving. It never occurred to me when we tied the knot over 50 years ago that I would relish being a passenger.

And memory. I say this without authority but on experience. I am discovering that it is at times very disconcerting to not remember names of people I know. I can remember a teacher or a coach from long ago but not always my neighbor's name. However, we live at a time when we too easily blame all memory loss on Alzheimer's syndromes. Dementia at times is a subtle malady but too often it gets confused with a simple, non serious dementia quirk in life called memory loss. This is unfortunate because so many of my senior friends complain of similar quirks but demented they are not.

Aging, believe it or not, is both a fascinating and sometimes a frustrating period of life. But then it usually beats the alternative.