I've written about many things good about being old such as Senior discounts and never having to look for another job. The other day at a large celebratory gathering, I realized (being the oldest in a large crowd by at least a whole generation), that there were few subjects that were raised that I didn't know a lot about. Staring at the sky, noting a bank of very dark clouds, watching which way the clouds were moving, I was able to figure by the time and shadows that the rain was coming from the East and would be upon us fairly quickly. This discussion was with a young architect,who clearly did not have correct facts and thought the sun was in the northwest. Not very tactfully I said, "I guess you were never a Boy Scout". However, a young biology researcher, used to being in the 'field' agreed totally with my assessment and used the same criteria to arrive at the same conclusions..
We talked about jewelry making, casting, politics, religion, food, cooking techniques, plant growing, global warming, the slow migration of the upper Canadian permafrost, patterns of weather, current events, pets, computers, silversmithing, and many unrelated topics. I realized that one of the things I had, which those younger did not have, was all those added years of experiencing and learning.
Only now can I appreciate a good memory and a line spoken by Art Carney many years ago when he was playing the part of a senior who had lost his memory (it turned out it was a reaction to the medications he was taking and he ultimately got cured with his memory returning) when he made the most telling statement: "You are your memory. Without it you have no past; you cease to have existed." The more of life you have tasted and digested,. the richer your life has been as all those bits of information you take in get stored..
No comments:
Post a Comment