Winter of My LIfe

Reading this e-mail quickly (sent from Carolyn a few months ago), I stopped and started over...reading slower and thinking about every word. This e-mail is very thought provoking...”stop and think!”

Time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years.  It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with  my mate.  Yet, in a way, it seems like eons ago and I wonder where all the years went.  I know that I lived them all.  I have glimpses of how it was back then and all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is...the “winter of my life” and it catches me by surprise.  How did I get here so fast?  Where did the years go?  Where did  my youth go?  I remember well, seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were  years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting gray...they move slower and I see an older person now.  Some are in better and some in worse  shape than me...but, I see the great change:  Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we saw and never thought we'd be.  Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day!  And taking a nap is not a treat anymore...it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will...I just fall asleep where I sit.

Here, I interject about my elderly cousin, Zella, who had her small senior's apartment in Toronto.  Twice a month I visited her, having dinner with her  in the nearby Nursing Home and spending a few hours. Contacting her ahead of the scheduled day one time, she did not answer her telephone nor did she return my calls.  The “super” of her complex checked and found her on the floor beside her kitchen table.  Unable to get anyone's attention, she lay there for two days…she had fallen asleep...and fell, breaking her leg. We hospitalized her; following discharge, the nearby Nursing Home cared for her and tended to her needs.  This gave me “great peace of mind”.

And, so...now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do the things that I wish I had done but never did!  But, at least I know that though the winter has come , and I'm not sure low long it will last...this I know, that when it's over on this earth...it's over.  A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets.  There are things I wish I hadn't done...things I should  have done, but indeed, there are things I'm happy to have done.  It's all in a lifetime!

So, if you're not in your winter yet...let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you believe.   So,  whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly.  Don't put things off too long!  Life goes by quickly!  So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not! You have no promise that you will see “all the seasons” of your life...so, live for today and say all the things that  you want your loved ones to remember...and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!

LIFE is a gift to you.

The way you live your life

is your gift to those who come after.

Make it a fantastic one!

Remember, also, “It is health that is real wealth,

and not pieces of gold and silver.”

Live happy in 2013!

* * * * * * *

In closing, I relate to an incident in 2009...she was a real estate sales rep whom I had respected in this business...very slim and attractive...very personable with all her associates and friends. On this day  in December, I again saw her...sitting on a bench in front of a pharmacy (probably waiting for a ride).  Returning home, I wrote the following prose which I published in the first month of my blog writings...(March, 2011)...so appropriately does it “fit” with the foregoing.

I Feel So Lucky!

Outside a Pharmacy door,

I recognized a Realtor peer

whom long ago I knew.

Seated on a bench,

she was frail...'bout 80 lbs.,

slowly, turned  her eyes aside.

Hopefully, un-noticed she would be.

I Feel So Lucky!

I live in a pleasant Seniors' home,

near buses and a shopping mall.

Lonely are some women and men

...no visiting friends or family.

Oft they wait in the lounge for the delivered mail

(their daily routines, they chat about).

Read their letters...and show their pics.

I Feel So Lucky!

Some have walkers and some  have canes;

a few ride scooters..to ease weary legs.

Most of us here are still quite mobile;

attend all the lunches and pot luck events;

games of euchre and sometimes scrabble;

pedicures, manicures at reasonable cost;

weekly hair stylings within their abode.

I Feel So Lucky!

Lifestyles change as we mature:

I cannot schuss down snowy slopes;

cannot golf on fairway greens...

but am quite sure that I can putt!

Tennis agility is a skill of the past,

cannot polka or clog a routine,

cannot hike along lush forest trails,

Yet, I Feel So Lucky!

Many other pleasures I now pursue:

the Theatre, the Play, Observer of Sports!

Time to Imagine and Time to Create

fashion accessories and inspired to write!

A page-turner novel “transports me away.”

With dear precious friends, we e-mail and dine.

Duplicate bridge is one captive game;

many local clubs and Bridge Base Online.

My family of  “Friends” has greatly increased

from Chile to Turkey, to Portugal and France!

I travelled last year to US with my son...

discovered a Bridge Club locally to play.

A truly great Gentleman, I partnered with...

Amazing!  This Vet...of World War II.

I Feel So Lucky!

Recently drove the scenic distance

from California coast to Ontario home

(green Honda van for emission test).

Viewed mountains and canyons,

and high desert plateaus;

tumbling rivers and placid lakes;

ambitious cities and sleepy hamlets.

I Feel So Lucky!

I Feel So Lucky for All of the Above!

Yet, I have aches and I have pain;

a few weeks ago, I nearly fell!

Graciously I've learned, “Thank You so Much”.

Appreciate Tylenol and a Helping Hand.

As Two Thousand Ten, fast approaches,

I wish to all, “A Healthy and Happy New Year!”

Now, in the Spring when my Birth Date arrives,

“I'm another year Younger

and hopefully, another year Wiser!”

I AM SO LUCKY!

Crafted by Merle Baird-Kerr...March 3, 2013

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