Growing old is not that big of problem. The problem is being able to grow old ''gracefully.'' Now that's a problem. The body as it ages, just naturally wears out as it goes along. Why not? Everything else seems to. Your car, the house, your washing machine, etc.. How can we expect to be any exception to the rules of what comes naturally? Age is supposed to be one means from which a person gains wisdom but really, what does that imply? Do you always get wiser as you get older? Some do ... most don't! When one looks back in retrospect after reaching ''those golden years'' a truly wise man will look deeply into his soul. If he has the courage, he will give himself a really honest appraisal of just what he has accomplished throughout his lifetime. If he is like most people he will not appraise himself as honestly as he really should, but will be content with what his mind allows him to accept. He usually figures it's too late to do anything about it so he may as well make the best of it by ''hiding his head in the sand'' and implying to anyone who will listen how good he was ''in the old days!''

Everyone on the face of this planet has accomplished something. Some have accomplished more than others, granted but what is the measure of ''accomplishment'' anyway? Does it always have to be in the form of monetary wealth .... large investments and holdings? Does it have to mean that a man is nothing unless he has left his name in the history books as having done something great to and/or for the world? I think not. Many a person with absolutely no formal education or what we would class as ''proper'' up-bringing have made their mark indelibly in the circles he traveled in and with the people he dealt with throughout his life! It may have simply been in the raising of a good family, providing for them and his wife well. He may have shown simple respect and kindness to everyone he met.

He may have died a pauper but still have been the richest man in the world! Simply by being a decent, law-abiding and well respected person that provided well for his family and helped his neighbors when they were in need. These acts are truly riches .... riches beyond measurement. Riches that cannot be counted at the teller's cage of a bank ... or fought over after the reading of his Will …. but riches nevertheless. A man who feels he has never really accomplished anything great is likely the type person that exchanged pleasant greetings to all he met. He was likely the type that tipped his hat and opened doors for a lady .... by and large unheard of by this hectic, thoughtless generation of today! Aging is one of the simplest phenomenom of the life cycle and although there have been many people try very hard to “dodge” this fact …. they inevitably succumb to it as every living creature on this planet does.

The sad part of aging in this day and age is the fact that our country (Canada) is being bled dry by power hungry politicians in Ottawa who don't care one speck about the elderly ... except at election time. The “older folks” worked all their lives to build up a nest egg for their retirement, either through RRSPs, Pensions, Annuities, Mutual Funds, Banks, etc. just to have our idiotic, greedy federal government figure every possible way of taking that “nest egg” off them .... either through taxation or license fees, etc. for everything they can get their sticky fingers on!

Our government has created a useless dollar on the world market and debts that our great-great-great grandchildren will still be trying to pay off. They have eaten into our incomes so badly that people who were relatively well off twenty years or so years ago are now living below the “poverty line” because of poor government planning and spending. Stress is probably one of the greatest contributors of illness and aging and our government insists on creating limitless stress on us all by taxing away our hard-earned dollars that we set aside for our retirement.

Enough ranting about the bloody government (my pet target) and on with “aging.” I feel very strongly that what often happens to people who retire is …. all of a sudden they have nothing whatsoever to do. This can be devastating! Plans for retirement should be made long before they actually do retire. They should plan trips, cottage, fishing, hobbies or whatever …. But DO SOMETHING TO KEEP ALERT AND OCCUPIED! Have something planned ahead every day (and night) that you can look forward to seeing or doing. It could be cutting the grass, gardening, playing bridge, watching a play or even getting your hair cut, or in the case of a woman …. a perm. Learn not to be a worry wart. Sure you will have reason to at times but learn to “slough it off” like water off a duck's back and “to hell with everything and if necessary … everybody … you “earned your stripes” and don't you forget it!!

When you really stop and think about it there IS one thing that everyone appreciates and that is recognition or acceptance. As a child, my brothers and I never seemed to get any appreciation from our parents no matter how hard we worked or how well we did although I heard many years later (too late) that Dad praised us occasionally behind our backs! Think what a profound effect it would have had if he had done it to our faces! However, it just didn't seem to be in their make-up to give praise to their children. I am quite sure this is why we left home as soon as we could and this is why not one of the boys had any thought whatsoever of staying as farmers or mechanics, which were Dad's professions. When one retires they should set themselves goals all the time no matter how big they are .... just so they can feel good about saying (to themselves if necessary) .... "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!". It could be something as simple as doing some painting or cutting the lawn but make it a "goal" (small or large) and make up your mind that this goal is important and you must achieve it. When in the end, with your own effort you accomplished that particular goal then give yourself credit for doing so. You are certain to feel better about it. "Beat your own chest" so to speak but DO IT even if you are the only one aware of it. You ... after all are the one that has to feel you have achieved something so if nobody else is interested in hearing about it ..... "BEAT YOUR OWN CHEST AND BE PROUD ABOUT IT!"

One other thing I want to mention here and that is money. Whether you have little or a lot for God's sake spend it before you die! Why leave it for someone to maybe fight over and especially why leave anything to the goddam government?? Those bastards take it away from you the minute your born 'till the day you die so why in hell should you give them what you saved for many years? There's a famous financial consultant that recently wrote a book, which is a best-seller especially in the States and its title says it all .... LIVE RICH .... DIE POOR! He's right you know! Just think about it.

Well it's a few years since I wrote the above and I'm about to be seventy-eight in May of this year (2006)! Yup ..... time does seem to fly. Right now as I sit at my computer trying to concentrate on what to write, my little cockatiel "TIKI" is driving me to distraction by walking over my keyboard and "typing" some pretty strange stuff as he goes! I chase him away but within seconds, the little beggar is back. When he hears my voice getting cross (which it just did) he flies off to bug my wife in another room so now that he's gone for a while, I might get a few words down here after all. (You can see a bit about him elsewhere on this website.)

Since I wrote the above, a few years have gone by and as they say .... "things change" ..... and changes did take place. About six years ago, my wife discovered she had a tumour and the first doctor wanted to operate right away as he said it was cancer! Of course that scared the hell out of me and I told him we wanted a second opinion ... which we got right away. A good friend of ours ... Dr. Nick Diamant was head of the Toronto Western Hospital so I phoned him and she was in there within two days. He had the operation done at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. I remember dozing off at my youngest daughter's place while the operation was being done and prayed to God to give the cancer to me instead of her and the tumour turned out to be benign ... thank God! Before and during all this ... my two daughters had bought a large home in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada and made it into three apartments. It is right on the shore of Lake Erie at the beginning of the Welland Canal. The girls had been after Joyce and I to sell our retirement home near Georgian Bay and move into a ground floor apartment, so eventually we did and we love it here. Only trouble being that we are too close to the Fort Erie Casino!