Growing old with dignity. . .
I just returned from my 55th high school reunion in Lafayette, IN. As I write this, I am amazed that five and a half decades have passed since nearly 350 of us walked across the Jefferson High School Auditorium stage to get our diplomas. I am even more amazed at how vibrant we still are; how interested in the world at large, and at how creative so many of my classmates have become. One of my friends who had been a banker for 45 years is now an accomplished, award-winning painter. You can see a sampling of his pastels at Ronburgessart.com.
Another classmate, Phil Burgess, recently published a book: Reboot! What to do when your career is over but your life isn’t. An excellent book for all of us who are in the process of “retooling” our lives and charting a new direction. Check it out at amazon.com. And then there is a friend who is losing her eyesight due to macular degeneration and small strokes in one eye. And yet, she lives wholly and with great dignity, always wearing a smile and helping others see the brighter side of every situation. She most definitely serves as an example of one who is doing this too.
Classmates have survived cancer, strokes, Parkinson’s Disease, along with many less severe ailments. Probably everyone of us present felt a bit sore, on Sunday, because of the late night hours; particularly those of us who jitterbugged Saturday night. But the most important point about this blog post is that we continue to be supportive of each other; we know how and when to let bygones, be bygones. And we know that friendship is more important than our differing political or religious views. Knowing how to be kind rather than insisting on being right is a lesson most of us have learned, somewhere along this path we traverse.
I know where and when I was introduced to that most important principle, and it has turned my life around. No longer must I finish a discussion that has taken a left turn. No longer must I try to convince any one else that my perspective is more valid than theirs. No longer must I stay engaged in a discussion that has no for-see-able peaceful outcome. I consider this a hallmark of growing old with dignity.
It is often said that with age, comes wisdom. I’m not sure this is always true, but I am sure that I have grown a bit wiser with age. I have learned to appreciate our differences rather than accentuate them and make someone wrong or different. I have learned that within every discussion if a pearl of enlightenment. And I have learned that those I meet on my particular path have been sent to help me grow. That’s the most important awareness of all. How grateful I am to every one who walks with me.
