AGEING; A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE—

The recent death of good friend Harold Zehner was just one more jolting reminder that an aging body is an inexorable and inevitable process.

And, while it beats the dickens out of the alternative, ageing does often challenge those who enjoy the process with wildly varying degrees of debilitation.

My bicycling friend Lynn and my lady friend Ruth both are grappling with parents on the verge of dwindling from independent living to some form of assisted arrangements.

My lady classmate and friend Doneen in Texas is dealing with poor eyesight issues and her husband is condemned to constant use of oxygen for the rest of his life.

Good friends Dave in upstate NY and Mike here locally are in the process of beating cancer away with a surgical stick.

Cousin Bill in south FL lost a leg to cancer as a young man, had a distinguished career as an electrical engineer yet has long fought eyesight deteriorating toward total blindness.

My dad, mom and sister died way too young. So did my bride Carol. Her final protest was having a smoke on the porch of the National Institute of Health’s cancer facility in Bethesda, MD. She was gone an evening later.

She took after my cousin Bob’s dad. He went out on the porch, enjoyed his after dinner smoke then sat down in his chair and shook hands with his maker.

Carol’s mom Maribelle also died way too early those many years ago. She managed to frolic until that week when she celebrated a family party one evening and died unexpectedly a day or two later.

My friend Harold, too, managed to check out on his own terms. Living independently. A sharp mind and a ready smile. He died after taking a morning whiz then crawling back into bed. I like to think he peed in the devil’s eye too.

May we who yet survive be so lucky.