I was celebrating and eating an apple fritter.
I’m not sure what I was celebrating at the time, but it doesn’t matter as long as I’m doing it with an apple fritter. Life has its way of prompting celebration.
While I was in this celebratory mood, I remembered I’ll be 75 years old this month. As a young man, I always thought aging would be a terrible experience, and I was going to do all in my power to avoid it.
As I watched my grandparents and saw all the difficulties they experienced, I promised myself I wasn’t going down that same path. I was going to enjoy life to the very end even though I didn’t know when the end was.
I look ahead to my birthday, I admit getting old hasn’t been nearly as bad as I’d thought. When I was in my 20s, I assumed when I got this age — if I reached it — I’d be in some nursing home and not even know where I am or who I am.
Yes, there are times when I can’t walk as briskly as before and sometimes my hip gives away a little bit. I’ve seen so many doctors the last several years I probably qualify for some doctoral degree.
I remember a month or so ago, I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room when I noticed others walking past me. At the time, most of them were older, and some were walking very slowly with canes. I noticed most people, if they weren’t older than me, at least looked and acted like they were.
I let out a sigh of relief and said to myself how lucky I was not to be “that old.”
As I finished my apple fritter that day, I continued thinking about my age and its benefits.
First, I’m retired, and I don’t have to go to work every day. For about 50 years, I pastored churches, which meant I was at church every day of the week. Now I’m retired, and I don’t have to go to any office. My office is at home, and if I don’t want to enter it, I don’t.
Also, I have Social Security and a retirement fund, so I don’t have to worry too much about a salary. I’m not rich, but I have enough to live on for the rest of my days as long as I do so frugally.
But there is another benefit to age I hadn’t thought about — grandchildren and even great grandchildren. I have nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren at my disposal. I mean, what’s better?
All I have to do is tell them Grandma, my wife Martha, has fresh cookies, and they’re here.
As I was thinking about my upcoming birthday, I remembered a very interesting Bible
verse.
“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.”
— Proverbs 20: 29
The older I get, the more wisdom I’ll have. There’s no time in life where wisdom is more appropriate than old age. I’m going to examine my grey hair and see how much wisdom I have.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected].
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