When? he asked. When does middle age end and old age begin?

"When" he asked, " when does middle age end and old age begin?"

It took awhile to recover from his question.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Some times it just smacks you in the face-

being old I mean.

Winter has been pretty long this year,long and nasty.
Work has been unusually brutal.

I was off work a little early one day recently. The afternoon sun was warm. The sky was clear blue, bright. My plans for a quick walk home had been thwarted by the sale signs across the road which had beckoned me back inside. I immediately found an unusually good bargain- a gift for a friend. I emerged quickly glad to be outside again and feeling munificent and happy.Ready to pepstep home with energy and vigour the weak spring sun warming my smile, the slight breeze wresting the song from my soul

The city bus had just pulled away from the stop. A generation of middle school students were taking leave of each other. They filled the air with greetings and leave takings; curses and threats. A body went into a snowbank;some ice was crushed under heel; snow balls and ice chunks flew through the air. I stood back and waited for them to pass.

"Hey Jerk- let the old lady pass " someone called

Saturday, March 15, 2008

It took awhile to recover from his question.

Did he see me as old? - well I knew the answer to that yes,yes he did.

Had I asked him he would have admitted to it, I have no doubt. But I knew, the signs were there.
The adolescent snarl I was occasionally the recipent of,
the dismissive attitude I encountered from time to time that I had previously considered as part of his problem of immaturity- not of my old age
and then the true key to my understanding; when the considerations of his immaturity were cast aside, he often prefaced our conversations about everyday life, experiences and personal philosophy with examples given to him by his grandparents. Initially I saw this as evidence of his close retaionship with his granparents but came to realize he saw me in the same light as his grandparents and was introducing a commonality of experience to our conversation. OUCH!