Getting Old Sucks

Thanks, Shewolfnm. As I always brag: I can "outdo" a man twice my age.

Yeah, getting old sucks, but not getting old sucks worse.

By the way, I've been looking for my cousin, Howard Rhymer, for years (last I heard he was a Greek Orthodox priest). Is he you? He would be around 64 now.

Yeah, getting old really sucks, I'd like to know about the not getting old part..

If getting old sucks...does getting sucked get old?

Well, Francis, I can't say much about not getting old because I didn't die young.

Ah, didn't see it that way!

Hazy mind in sunny California...

Chumly I don't believe you said that! Shame on you.

You are saying that getting old beats the alternative??????

after the first couple hours maybe....

My eighteenth birthday was the last birthday I had "mentally" celebrated. After that, I didn't really bother.

Five years hence, I'm still eighteen.

Well, Cicerone, you and I are the same age, and you are more activive (traveling) than I. Indeed, I've always admired how gracefully you are aging. It's good to know that some beautiful women like Shewoldfnm are not unattracted to a man only because he's aging.
I have my share of age-related chronic ailments but I've managed not to show my age (until recently perhaps). Fortunately, I have the motivation and energy to continue painting, playing the violin, reading, and participating as an official in our emeritus college. My only complaint is the death and illness of so many of my peers.

this Thomas Hardy poem is a little grim -no, A LOT grim!

Still, it is beautifully written, especially the last stanza:

"I Look Into My Glass"

I look into my glass,
And view my wasting skin,
And say, "Would God it came to pass
My heart had shrunk as thin!"

For then, I, undistrest
By hearts grown cold to me,
Could lonely wait my endless rest
With equinimity.

But Time, to make me grieve,
Part steals, lets part abide;
And shakes this fragile frame at eve
With throbbings of noontide.
(Thomas Hardy)

Thank you for the wonderful poem - had not heard it before - wondered if this thread was still alive and voila!

Come on, Francis. You know as well as anyone that getting old is all in the mind.

JLN, Have you visited my travel blog on travelpod.com? Look for me as c.i.222. Got over 14,000 hits from around the world. Look at one of my recent ones on the Norwegian Coastal Cruise.

For sure, Tak!

You know that I'm like Spidergirl, always eighteen..

I wanna be young the rest of my life
never say no - try anything twice
til the angels come and ask me to fly
I'm gonna be 18 til I die - 18 til I die

Can't live forever that's wishful thinkin'
who ever said that must of bin' drinkin'
don't wanna grow up I don't see why
I couldn't care less if time flies by

18 til I die - gonna be 18 til I die
it sure feels good to be alive
someday I'll be 18 goin' on 55! - 18 til I die

Anyway - I just wanna say
why bother with what happened yesterday
it's not my style I live for the minute
if ya wanna stay young get both feet in it - 18 til I die

A 'lil bit of this - a 'lil bit of that
'lil bit of everything - gotta get on track
it's not how ya look, it's what ya feel inside
I don't care when - I don't need ta know why

18 til I die - gonna be 18 til I die
ya it sure feels good to be alive
someday I'll be 18 goin' on 55! - 18 til I die
ya there's one thing for sure - I'm sure gonna try

Don't worry 'bout the future - forget about the past
gonna have a ball - ya we're gonna have a blast
gonna make it last - 18 til I die

Hell, I may be old, but I can outwork and outscrew a guy twice my age.

I'm booked for a Southern France Viking cruise next April, and will be in Paris on April 16 and 17, flying home on the 18. This is tentative depending on the travel agent who is working on our extensions before and after the 8-day cruise. Hope you will be home to meet for a meal and drinks.