Life #15: Social Ageing
A few months ago, the day’s Wordle word was AGING, in the peculiar American spelling. That was the catalyst for this next chapter, where I unpack this middle-age stage of my life. With gratitude for yet another birthday, I firstly reflect on the finity of our years - perhaps a little morbidly - but moreover look with overwhelming excitement to the future.
Ageing or aging, its spelling matters not
It beats the alternative, if health we haven’t got
It’s not for us choose
Who gets to win or lose
The roulette of fortune, rules when we’ve had our lot
So what will determine, how our stars finally lie
Our biological clocks, or that magician in the sky
We mustn’t die wondering
Destiny does the numbering
No immunity granted, just from being a good guy
It has nothing to do with, our status or richness
Or if Christian, atheist, or Jehovah’s Witness
We can’t beat father time
He’ll spin round on a dime
Not even an exemption, if we keep up our fitness
For we cannot forever, prolong vitality
We must accept, inevitable finality
Each setting of the sun
Is another day done
Creeping reality, of ultimate mortality
I hope each ballot draw, can stay an empty blank
For my bucket list is more, an overflowing tank
You can still get your kicks
At age sixty-six
When every sliding door, is providence to thank
Yet some already regard me, as an elderly man
When they offer their seat, when I’m riding the tram
It’s not how I feel
But perception is real
The camera does not lie, how old I really am
I’ve wrinkles from grinning, these old knees are wearing
Hair greying and thinning, some say hard of hearing
Memories have faded
Sometimes feeling jaded
Eyes spectacled and dimming, appearance disappearing
But so far I’ve been dealt, a fair hand of cards
Just the odd curve ball, to catch me off-guard
I have had a good ride
Luck has been on my side
When compared to others, whose lives have been hard
Like some of my loved ones, who have sadly passed on
They left us too early; I feel they were wronged
Such random unfairness
That veiled awareness
We can’t all live ageless, timeless and long
My sister would have turned, sixty-eight this year
But poor Bev is tragically, no longer here
Mum died seventy-three
Not much older than me
I fear that grim reaper, uncomfortably near
So whatever fateful events might unfold
Or momentous milestones, still to behold
I’ll be up to the test
I will give them my best
Unfinished business, new stories to be told
I hope I can enjoy, a million more laughs
By the fire sampling pinot, from cut glass carafes
To hang round a while
To make people smile
Not ready to be written, into any epitaph
So what personal legacies, would I like to leave
What state of planet, are we going to bequeath
I’ve lived life with purpose
Yet not scratched the surface
I’d like to think, there is more to achieve
Like leaving a world, without carbon pollution
Or at a minimum, to have found a solution
We must make reparation
For our kids’ generation
We have to continue, this climate revolution
I don’t want every day, to be golf games or bowls
For I’m hoping there may, be adventurous goals
Like hiking and biking
On trips of our liking
Forever young may we stay, till that last church bell tolls
All these things on my plate, that I still need to do
How much time on the scoreboard, I haven’t a clue
More physical pursuits
Iconic trekking routes
Tracks, trails and traverses, another mountain or two
From Antarctica to Patagonia
The Atlas Mountains to the Amazonia
Galápagos Islands
Up more rugged highlands
Down through the Balkans to Macedonia
Back to drinks on the beach, down at my island home
To gardening, galivanting, far-flung places to roam
And despite twilight lurking
I still enjoy working
A living kaleidoscope, of the known and unknown
No need for possessions, or new fan-dangled toys
Just happy when fishing, or skiing with the boys
To see as much as I can
Abby, Milly and Sam
Time spent with my children, one of life’s greatest joys
May mighty All Blacks and Hawthorn, keep on coming
And I hope that I am able, to sustain my running
If my future is scripted
Already predicted
Let it be generous, inclusive and stunning
More opportunity still, for a change up of gears
Dormant dreams to fulfill, new exciting frontiers
Time yet to consolidate
To fully appreciate
It’s not years in your life, but the life in your years
For ageing is said to be, mind over matter
So if one doesn’t mind, it should not matter
But ailing too hastily
Or ageing more gracefully
No matter what the spelling …… I would be grateful for the latter!
Kevin Holmes • 26th March 2024
