Getting Old
One day I'm 35 years of age, and then on a trip back home to Louisiana, I met a former student of mine, Terry Albright A former Gold and Silver medal winner of the Junior Olympics. that I haven't seen since 1987. He was a teenager back then around 15 or 16 I think. Now he is a adult with a 14 year old son . Then I met another former student that I haven't seen since 1987. He was a recent College graduate in his early twenties, and now he tells me he is FORTY SEVEN? Dear God were has the time gone? This man has a record of 21 Grand Championships along with being a World Champion. On this same trip my GRAND DAUGHTER introduces me to her newly wed HUSBAND. My grand daughter's married? I have accepted over the years that I am unable to perform Karate in the manner I would like, however I realize that my disability restricts many certain movements, and techniques of choice. Now in this case the realization hit me like a Muay Thai kickboxer's roundhouse kick to the head. BAM! I'M OLD. Sixty eight is OLD? I thought it was just my busted neck and groused out bad back, along with my favorite bum left knee cap. But NO! Along with all that, I gotta be OLD.
I don't understand the feelings I am experiencing, except to say I really don't enjoy them. Jesus Christ is the Truth, and I love the Truth, however the truth that I am rapidly entering old age is not very pleasant. I was according to medical diagnosis supposed to die from a heart attack back in 1979. Well I had the attack and a mild stroke but God speared me and I'm still here. I suppose I thought I would live for ever, I sure used to live like there was no tomorrow. Fast, sinful, and stupid, was my life-style. Now I'm all mixed up, troubled, and anxiety riddled. I would not say I'm death focused, but I think about it a lot more often than I should. Wow! The realization that I'm actually living on borrowed time is a bit unsettling. The fact that I have a dangerous deadly disease call Sleep Apnea, is rather taxing it' self. Never knowing if I will die during the night because of asphyxiation. Yet night after night the routine is there for the taking.
Not that I practice that horrible routine, praise God for His mercy in blocking those thoughts on a regular basics. Man I would never be able to get to sleep. My mind is troubled enough with all the circumstances as it is, I will not go into all the physical aspects except to say that Generalized Anxiety disorder, re-current anxiety attacks, Dysthymic disorder, Intermidtant Explosive impulse control disorder, is not a happy face existence. Ha! And thats just the mental aspects, the Physical area is much more damaging. Myocarditis is a disease due to Rheumatoid Arthritis. So if I don't die of the crazies, I have to hold on to the Lord that He will not take me with a heart attack. Although I would prefer that rather than Cancer. I pray that my prostrates realize that, and that the Lord will hear my prayers.
Growing old gracefully is my hope, living to go Up in the Rapture is my prayer. I don't really mind getting OLD, it's the thoughts that accompany old age. My dear sweet little old mother is 89 years of age. Bless her heart, Alzheimer's disease, which as most of you know is a form of progressive mental deterioration sometimes occurring in MIDDLE? or Old age, is draining her brain. Much of the time she thinks I'm her brother. Ha! And when I started forgetting certain things at age Fifty I thought it was just the Mid-Life Crises. Now watching my dear mother deteriorate before my eyes( she lives with my wife and I) is difficult. I'm not complaining, she's my mom, and I don't care if she thinks I'm Micky Mouse, I love her and we are blessed that it's not cancer killing her. Praise God.
My problem is that I am 68 years old and my darling little wife is only 47 years of age. I see my wife having to clean and bath my mom, and I am terrified that I might become like my mom and Kathy(my wife) would have to take care of me . Man, I do not want that to happen to her, with another old person. She doesn't deserve to have that kind of burden. Getting old is often painful not only physically but mentally also. Younger individuals sometimes think as one get's older one gets stupider. The Bible teaches that older folks are to be respected, and revered. So what's up with that? Why are their so many smart alack punk heads in the World treating senior citizens like ALL of us are mentally disadvantaged. I have been educated with a bachelor of arts in Psychology, and a Social Studies minor. My Collage Professor Dr. Boyd McCreight gave me an Intellectual I.Q. test that revealed my I.Q. to be 185. I guess that makes me a freak, but why do some people think I'm stupid?
I graduated from Northwestern State University with Masters degree in Recreation and a minor in Psychology and Special Education. I wanted to graduate with a masters degree in Psychology, however the graduate class was filled and I was not able to be admitted. So I just took the courses anyway. I had enough credits for a Masters, and actually a PhD in another discipline. I sent my Dissertation to Athens Greece for a doctorate in Philosophy. But ENOUGH of me, my, and I, allow this article to end with a question. What's the matter with being a intelligent senior citizen? Young people respect the gray hair of the Senior citizen, because like the old saying goes, there might be snow on the roof, but there's still fire in the furnace (brain). May the good Lord Bless our Nation and the behavior of our people bring God back as the center of our realization.
