It's Cool to Be Old!

Besides growing old, the best thing that's ever happened to me is being diagnosed with diabetes 19 years ago. It got my attention. As a result, given how I've dealt with it, I'm a lot---a lot!---healthier than I'd otherwise be if I hadn't been so diagnosed. No---I mean zero!---aches and pains here. Yours, Chuck

a different experience of growing old. Most elder Americans (alas!) are sorry models for later years. Problems generally of aging are many (and can be daunting)---esp. in the United States. We're assaulted on all sides by misinformation(s) of various kinds. And it starts for us from before birth, frankly. But the "problems" I here mention are bendable to a person's will ... if (a major if) one digs for solutions. I keep on digging, which of course is a major contributor to making my life so interesting presently. Since diabetes brings on all sorts of chronic, devastating conditions that aren't pretty, I've had to deal with the whole gamut of health issues. And I mean re cancer, heart disease, kidney failure, early dementia, loss of feet/legs and/or hands/arms, a sudden complete/permanent loss of sight, etc. ad infinitum. I'm fortunate in that dealing with diabetes successfully also deals incredibly successfully with the multitude of fallouts and side effects of typical diabetes, including those above mentioned ... and I've not had even one of those side effects visit me. Author Whitaker early on wrote a book called Reversing Diabetes. I started from there. But I have not finished with that. I've moved on. The ground I travel in this regard is fascinating, with all sorts of twists and wonderful turns. The body is constantly adapting, changing, moving, is anything but static. I respect myself/my body/my diabetes enough to gather info regarding various needs so that I can implement self-treatments that work---in fact, so well that my doctor is dumbfounded by my results. Mine is not the usual experience, but ... it is one that can be borrowed from by others. One of my favorite things during summer months is playing two-man sand volleyball with 20-year-olds, esp. those who are tall. I'm 5-9, so usually at least a 6-3 or 6-4 partner is a must. Either that or at least one exceptionally skilled and a good jumper/spiker at the net. I've developed strategies for such play, strategies that work well enough that my two-man team can win better than 50 percent of the time against a pair on the other side of the net who both are 6-foot-plus and in their early 20s agewise. I'm thankful that "kids" who are nearly 40 years younger than am I appreciate my energetic (and at least somewhat skillful) play. The regret I hear from them is that their couch-potato parents and grandparents consider themselves too old for such frivolity. And of course I give these younger souls a measure of hope that perhaps growing old for them will not be---or does not have to be---the same as it is/was for their own parents/grandparents. Sorry about the apparent bragging. It's unseemly, to use an old-fashioned word. But I here make larger points. In appreciation for your read, your personal sharing, and your commenting, Chuck