Reflections at Fifty-five

I turned the age of 55 a couple of weeks ago and I have been thinking on my life. Some of you are beyond that point and for others it is still up the road apiece. However, if you are beyond grammar school, you have probably sat down and looked at your past, the present, and future even if it was only during the week before Christmas and you were worried that Santa might not show up that particular year.

What can a person say about their life? What I say is that the path I've walked has led me to where I am. Some people who did not live the life that I did may have their opinion as how well or poorly I have lived, but, then, they are on the outside looking in and not in the middle with me. I have no regrets, although, looking back there are a few things that I would have did a bit differently as we all can find in our histories. Some of what a person thinks is the best turns out to be big mistakes and some misfortunes turn out to have a silver lining. The best that a person can do is to do the best they can and not dwell overly long on the past.

Your past is behind you and you cannot change it. You must live in the present and these days that are challenging enough in this economy, society, and state of things. In January in Indiana this year, even the weather seems determined to challenge us or perhaps it only appears different.

Oh, well, let's get through the present and plan for the future. I don't think that a person who has no plans for the future is really alive. If today is all you are living for, what's the point of having a tomorrow? When the Good Lord calls me Home, I plan to leave a full calendar behind. While I feel that I have seen some of this world and did a few things, there are so many places I've never been and things that I want to do I know I don't have the time left to do them all. Isn't that the way life is supposed to be? I think that it is.

An old friend of mine passed on a while back. That is if you consider that a man of middle age when you were a teenager a friend. I always considered him family as I was around him so much as he was my best friend's uncle and we helped out on the farm. Laughingly, I don't know if my friend "had to" but I know I sometimes rode a bike or walked three miles just to be with my friend and we did whatever was needed while there.

To me, Charles passed on in the perfect fashion since you have to anyway. He was out working the farm one day. The next day, he didn't feel quite right so he drove from Poland to Clay City to the doctor's office. (I think it was Clay City but may be mistaken.) The doctor told him that he wanted some tests done up at the hospital in Brazil. Charles drove back to Poland, picked up his wife, and drove to the hospital. He sat down and passed away quietly while the paperwork was being processed. To me, that would be just about perfect. To be doing what you loved one day and to pass on with little fuss or pain the next is the second best way that I can think of, the best being to live a full day, going to sleep, and just not waking again.

I don't mean to sound morbid and I realize that to some this blog may, but then, you have not walked the path that I've walked so you are not where I am. As my grandmother used to say, "I'm happy to have lived this long."

May the Good Lord hold you in the palm of His hand and bless all of your days.