Getting Older

 My sixteen year old piano student went to hear the rock band The Who this weekend and raved about the experience. Why would he go see some seventy year olds play music? Because they are cool he said.

Can I still be cool at seventy? I ask because I still have a year in my sixties and I see changes coming in so many ways. My body is a bit more rickety but my spirit is changing for the better. On every birthday I ask myself what my mother was doing at this age. At sixty-nine she was living alone as a widow of almost two years. She was often lonely but yet she was choosing to stay active by going to the temple with her sister every week, visiting her grandchildren, working in her garden, going for a daily walk, and taking a nap every day. She never had a driver's license or an outside the home job, but she was a hard worker with a hard and fast routine. Her routine kept her grounded. I had the impression that change was hard on her.

Get used to change! That is the knowledge I gained from a flash of light.

Don't run from it. Don't resent it. Don't over think it.

                                                                                       Change

When a new theme emerges

  Within a long sonata,

There is a measure just on the verge 

   That strikes a chord like a grand toccata.

It heralds the coming of the new,

   While transitioning from the old,

It tells the ear, wake up, be watchful, too,

   This melody could turn out to be quite bold.

As summer melds into Autumn

  Winds kick up and temperatures fall,

Listen for the notes at the bottom,

  They’re moving, up, upward they crawl.

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