On Being in My Ninth Decade

So here I am at 85, sufficiently functional and mentally competent, surprised at having lived this long. Assessing my condition, I find that I have lost:

• A degree of mobility and independence

• Dear friends who preceded me in death

• Appetite (and weight)

• Agility (not that I ever had that in abundance, but I could square dance pretty well)

• Energy

• Some short-term memory

And I find that I still have:

• Sufficient energy to get through the days

• The ability to think, reason and write, and enough short-term memory 

• Dear friends who are very good to me, and beloved family

• The resources and assistance to remain in my house with only my cat, Shadow, for company

• My car, and the ability to drive it safely

• As active and involved a life as I can handle

I have books to read, sunsets over the foothills to relish, blue sky most days, adequate food, excellent medical care, my computer to work on (a big improvement over typewriters), a caring church community and an abundance of gratitude for my fortunate circumstances. Being 85, after all, beats the alternative, as my father used to say. How blessed I am. 

Submitted by Barbara Fleming By: Kirsten Hartman