Shocked by aging process

@galere Oh my, that is so sad. What exactly is keeping you at home?

My quite young (mid-50's) next door neighbor has recent-onset spastic disorder that makes him appear to be always staggering all the time. He had to retire from coaching/refereeing, but does not let it stop him. He could have chosen to hide in the house, but instead now he gets around with braces, a walker, or canes and is driving a school bus to be around kids. Another friend has chronic, disfiguring lymphedema in her legs - so she wears longer pants, not shorts, does story-telling, volunteers, and swims in our community pool.
These are two of my "quiet heroes."

My wrinkles, crooked hands, chronic bruises, not-so-trim-and-firm body, and other signs of aging don't seem like much compared to that. So I just keep doing what I can.

To @ seniormiz
Please, please be grateful for every day of your long life. We experience life in a series of phases - infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age... each stage has its problems and joys. I am 72, and will be very lucky if I make it to 73, because I have ALS. The rest of my time in this world is short, but I am grateful every day for a delicious cup of coffee in the morning, the joy of seeing my children prosper, time spent chatting with a friend in a cafe, the fresh air and sunshine outside, and the opportunity on this forum to talk with people who are facing similar life challenges. My mother is 95, and still enjoys pottering around in the garden in good weather. What sort of things do you like to do? Please focus on the positives in your life - everybody gets wrinkles eventually!
@ellu

To @ seniormiz
Please, please be grateful for every day of your long life. We experience life in a series of phases - infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age... each stage has its problems and joys. I am 72, and will be very lucky if I make it to 73, because I have ALS. The rest of my time in this world is short, but I am grateful every day for a delicious cup of coffee in the morning, the joy of seeing my children prosper, time spent chatting with a friend in a cafe, the fresh air and sunshine outside, and the opportunity on this forum to talk with people who are facing similar life challenges. My mother is 95, and still enjoys pottering around in the garden in good weather. What sort of things do you like to do? Please focus on the positives in your life - everybody gets wrinkles eventually!
@ellu

My gosh, @ellu, you said that beautifully! " … everybody gets wrinkles eventually!" Attitude, attitude, attitude. Attitude is everything. The other morning, I awoke to find that my MacBook hard drive was empty of 98% of everything: my writing, my correspondence, all of my financial paperwork, et cetera, et cetera. All gone! When I'd tell friends, you'd think the Earth had just been struck by an asteroid. Oh, sure, I experienced a moment's OMG! But it didn't last. My moment's OMG! was quickly replaced by the thought: "A chance to start over!" I'm 81. I'm no fool. I know I haven't time to rebuild everything. Nor do I have the strength to do it. But I can do a lot. At the moment, I'm having a ball! So, thank you, @ellu, for your beautiful post! Reading your words added a little more sparkle to an already pretty good day. 🙂 –Ray (@ray666)

Your writing all gone and yet you are so chipper! The financials can be reworked, although it will be a pain.

The correspondence would be less important to me, but if I lost my commonplace book which is kept with pen and ink, I would be devastated.

Good morning, @barbaradh

The same is true for me: I value my commonplace above everything of mine that is––or was––digital. Fortunately, my commonplace is purely analog: pen & ink.

Are we the last two who keep commonplaces (or common books)? 🙂

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

Good morning, @barbaradh

The same is true for me: I value my commonplace above everything of mine that is––or was––digital. Fortunately, my commonplace is purely analog: pen & ink.

Are we the last two who keep commonplaces (or common books)? 🙂

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

@ray666

Now I am so curious. What are common books?