What to Remember as You Become Forgetful

 Often enough I've been told that I should write. I should share thoughts, blog, blather on about living, expound into renown. Right about now is a good time. Age and decrepitude have found me. Writing is still one thing easy enough to do. The time has come to inflict my thoughts upon poor, unsuspecting readers.

No shortage of matters to discuss, is there? We've only just crawled out from under the Covid pandemic. "May you live in interesting times" is an old curse.

A topic that has always struck me as needing to be re-thought is aging, living with elders and becoming one. A couple of decades ago, the subject of "What Not to Do as You Grow Old" seemed ripe for picking, with a such bounty of thoughts as there were for me at the time. Then again, that's a very negative way to put it. 

A friend said to me once, "I'm glad I'm as old as I am." That thought stayed with me, and here I'm admitting that it's true for me, too. Humans are going extinct. What today's kids will have for a world is uncertain, but it won't be good. We got to have a kinder, simpler childhood. We hadn't mucked it all up yet.

They didn't listen to the hippies! We told them this would happen. 

Anyway, volunteering with seniors has always been enjoyable for me. As long as we weren't related, that is. Most of that fodder for "what not to do" came from caring for my folks. 

The first recommendation offered for your consideration is, when someone kindly drives you to wherever you need to be, don't tell them the best way to get there. Not unless they've no idea how to get there. As an extreme example, my 80-something mom would direct me where to turn to get her home, to the same house we kids all grew up in. I could find it in my sleep, and often do! 

Maybe she needed to for her own reasons. Maybe it served as a mental exercise for her. Maybe she forgot who was driving. Just remember, the driver is doing you a favor. Just let them drive the way they prefer.