It’s amazing when I stop to think of the years and the life I have lived.

As so many of us say, I’m old in years but young at heart. If I never looked in the mirror I might not believe that I have just reached the biblical 3 score and ten. Not too long ago, that seemed a very long way away. But hey, our perspective changes with time. For example, I picked this up on a senior forum today:

“My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, “62.” He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “Did you start at 1?” ”

When I was a child I thought like a child, but when I grew up I put away childish things.” Then when I was an adult I thought and acted like an adult but when I became a senior citizen I put away some adult things. No water skiing for me, or horseback riding, or even a good vigorous game of tennis. No sirree! Some of those favorite adult activities are better left to the younger people. But there are many compensations to take their place. Like being able to sleep late in the morning; not having to get out in bad weather to go to work every day, no longer worrying how I’ll pay for the kids’ college expenses, Yes there are definite compensations.

Would I like to go back a decade or two or three? Not really. It’s been a long and interesting life but now I have new interests to follow and new things to learn. For example, this blog, and training class, and volunteering along with whatever else offers itself. Being old is not a disease; it is a new way to actively participate in life.

Does that ring a bell with any of you , my fellow senior citizens?

My dear friend Gube is having a birthday today and I wanted to be sure not to miss it.   He is the man who has contributed to this area before;  he used to write a weekly article for his local newspaper called Musings.   So here is his article on Birthdays.

MUSINGS BY GUBE

BIRTHDAYS

February the 19th makes me another year older. I am still in the two digit category. By that I mean I haven’t reached the 100 year mark. I won’t relate how old I will be but if you were to add the third digit, which is the same as the other two you would have the biblical number of the Beast. For those of you that are students of the bible you can figure my age pretty quick.

Actually, the celebrating of birthdays is a little foolish. Number one is that you really only have one birthday and that is the day you were born. All the rest are just anniversaries. Many families make a big deal when one of their members are another year older. As to myself the day goes by sometimes without my knowing it unless I happen to receive a birthday card. But woe to the man who forgets his spouses birthday. He is in deep trouble. I heard of a sign in a florist’s window that read, “Smoking, or forgetting you wife’s birthday, can be hazardous to your health.” There is so, much truth in that statement that I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t come from somewhere in the bible. Let me tell the male readers that the best way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once!

George Washington was first in war, first in peace and first to have his birthday juggled to make a long weekend. It seems as if every time some one gets involved in one thing or another they declare a holiday and all the government employees get another day off.

I remember when I was a kid and had a birthday, mom would always send cupcakes to school as would a lot of other mothers when their child had one. We would then have a party at school. It always seemed funny to me that when a mother baked a birthday cake for her child it was big enough to hold all the candles- and her own small enough not to. I guess the reason being is that women are more “persnickety” about their age than the men folk. When some women do have a big beautiful cake and put candles on it most of the time the design is beautiful but the arithmetic is terrible.

They talk about equality among the sexes. That doesn’t always hold true when it comes to birthdays. When a man has a birthday he sometimes takes the day off. When a woman has a birthday she make take off five years. Yes sir, that’s a fact!

There are many folks that just don’t want to acknowledge their birthday. It actually pains them to think that they are another year older, not me, no sir. When you cease to have birthdays you have expended your time here on earth and I really enjoy it here on this old earth in spite of some of the things that go on. Haven’t you enjoyed your time spent to date?

Gube

So you have had a long day and you don’t feel like reading but there’s nothing on television to watch? Then crank up the computer, come visit us and click on the “Listen Now” button to listen to the latest post on here.

Yep, friend Andy got it installed already and I hope each and every one of you will take advantage of the opportunity to listen while you rest. Isn’t technology great!

Frankly, I’ve been losing sleep thinking of all the things I want to do, now that I have recovered the ability to see what was unseen, to communicate with people who have ideas, opinions and feedback. So please open those weary eyes long enough to comment on what is happening in the world around you and, especially, here on Actively Senior. We need your input to make this a blog for and by seniors of 2008.

As promised, I have returned!

My new equipment has arrived and I am busy getting acquainted with the basics of how to use it.

I still have a week’s training ahead of me in San Antonio, Texas in the intricacies of using the software, but until then, I am overjoyed to announce that I can now read and write in spite of my very poor vision. I have to thank the Texas Division of Blind Services for this. Also, I want to offer thanks to my friend Andy for changing the theme and making it far more readable.

Many seniors are afflicted with worsening eyesight, whether it be degeneration, retinopathy, cataracts, or simply the aging process going a bit too far! (Kinda like our hearing; it just seems to get worse with the passing of time.)

Hearing problems can be improved with the addition of hearing aids but there is no practical medical answer for serious vision loss. So our science people have developed these tools to enable us to see or even to hear the written word.

Did I say HEAR? Yes, I did. There are now software programs that enable us to have the written words read to us. In fact, my buddy and mentor Andy is getting ready to install this service here on Actively. As I understand it won’t work on every post, only on the most recently posted. But what a blessing it will be, even if it is limited to recent posts. It just means you’ll have to come back often to discover what is happening.

There is much more to come, so come back soon!

For every person you have ever loved and lost.

The great lady for whom this was posted went to her well deserved rest after a long fight against breast cancer. She was an inspiration to all of us, friends and loved ones.   I hope this will speak to your hearts as it did to mine!

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she would want:
smile, open your eyes,
love and go on.

[David Harkins]

Hi everyone, I am helping Bev with this Blog. Today it’s my birthday! So I was looking for a place to celebrate online and thought about this blog.

Rather unusual I know, but Bev will soon be back now she has her new computer equipment, so what better way to give this site a boost than to have a party here today!

Also, I have added a new theme since the original was not very clear to read with people with any vision impairment. Let me know what you think in the comments. We can easily switch back to the previous version if needed.

I am actually a youngster where I live since I live in Japan where people have some of the longest life spans in the world. My neighbors range in age from babies right up to, well I don’t know? Maybe 90 years old.

I’m actually English though and 45 years young today. Wow, it’s amazing how time flies!

Anyway, please grab yourself a nibble and help yourself to a drink. We have fresh lobster, caviar, seaweed snacks, sushi, fruits, fine wines, champagne and beers.

State your preferences in the comments and the maids and butlers will attend to you ASAP. Also, we can fly in anything exotic that we haven’t got available right now. It’s OK, it’s my birthday, no expense spared!

You want live music, dancers, pampering? No problem.

- Andy