The best thing about getting old

Sometimes I will tell Cliff about something I would like to have, or someplace I'd like to go, and he'll say, "Well if there's something you want, you'd better get it, because we don't have that much time left."  

We had a discussion yesterday about how very special every minute is.  When I wake up in the morning, I have a profound sense of gratitude that I've been granted another day.  I can see, hear, walk, smell...  

When I was young, I didn't think about how precious a day was or what a great thing it was to see the sunrise and hear the birds singing.  Looking ahead, I saw what seemed like an endless supply of days ahead.  Of course I was aware that everybody dies, but it isn't anything I was worried about yet.  

I've seen people cringe when I say, "Cliff told me to get what I want, because we're dying soon."  

I've even had someone tell me to quit talking like that.  It's as though they think that if you don't mention death, it won't happen.  

I don't find it morbid at all to admit our time is short.  

The best thing about getting old is that, knowing you have a limited amount of time left, you treasure the time you are given.  

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!'” Robert Browning

     

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.  Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore