An Elder Statesman

Just awhile back I stumbled across a blog written by a gentleman who is almost twice my age, and his mental agility puts my relative young mind to shame. I think perhaps Buffalo turned me on to it: I forget already (isn't that pathetic?) Let's set aside the fact that he is over 90 years old; his writings have a wisdom, grace, and continuing curiosity born of a lifetime of experience that seems to have gotten the attention of several generations. His blog is called "Don to Earth". If you fail to investigate this blog, you will have missed something priceless!

As far as popularity goes, well, I just went back to check him out after not having done so for a few weeks and I was astounded to see his last post garnering over TWO HUNDRED comments! Here I was thinking the Tim, HE, and Ms C were the comment kings, and this wonderful old gentlemen has put them collectively to shame! He has touched the lives of people of ALL ages, without any bells or whistles, simply the reflections of a life lived to the fullest, parlayed with a humility that even I wish I could lay claim to.

One of his recent posts examined his realizations and feelings concerning how close he is coming to the end of his journey, and what I admired so much about it was not any expression of fear, but simply a good, basic distaste for the idea of checking out before he actually wants to, and despite all the ills of the world, all the challenges he now faces in his advanced age, he's still very much alive and kicking with plenty to say about everything. I swear to Bob this gentleman is more alive now than I have been in the last 20 years of my life, and I certainly admire him for it. I personally do not expect to live past my late sixties, due to my own choices in life and how they are effecting my longevity, but I certainly do hope that I can approach my own ending (or transition to the next big thing) with as much style and grace as this man has displayed.

The thing I most fear, having been exposed to it in my job for so long now, is the loss of my mental faculties before my body gives up on me, for that to me is truly hell on Earth. I never understood why we didn't evolve to simply shut the whole shop down when the head office begins to act like a mental Bush administration. Don, however, has proven that one's mind CAN remain fully intact and full of life instead of reverting to that second childhood so many elderly succumb to, and it is refreshing to witness. I highly recommend you go witness this yourself. You'll be glad you did.