Are We Getting Old?

Joe and I have been wondering this lately- not sure what is happening to us, but we have both been having aches and pains, and feeling old.

We are both recovering from car accidents, so maybe that is contributing to some of the aches, but I don’t think it can explain why my feet and legs hurt in the morning when I wake up.

I couldn’t deny it anymore that something had changed, two weeks ago as I actually had to ask the clerk in Target, where the Ben Gay was.  YIKES!!  I felt like an 80 year old!  I have seemed to developed a case of tendinitis in my left elbow, I think mainly from having to have Cole sleep on my arm for the last year.  Now that he is sleeping in his crib for most of the night, it is slowly going away, but some days it just starts hurting, and I notice it now every time I lift something, somewhat heavy, like a gallon of milk, or one of my sons- there is a dull ache.  I now could carry on a conversation with a senior citizen about my trick elbow.

My dear hubby, is a corporate trainer, and he is realizing in his classes, he is teaching employees that in theory, are young enough to be his children.  The other day, a group from his class asked him to go to lunch with them.  They insisted he come, and said they would drive.  As they were driving in a trendy, young, hip, VW Bug, one of the girls in the group started talking about the radio in the VW and the driver said she actually could have gotten an 8-track player in it.  One of the other people in the group turned to Joe and asked him, “You remember 8-tracks don’t you?” 

Joe doesn’t remember 8-tracks, and told them so, but didn’t think they believed him.  Then the group started asking everyone how old everyone one, so Joe heard, “21,” “22,” and “23.”  No wonder they thought he remembered 8-tracks.

Finally, a more somber event:  Joe heard yesterday that a former co-worker that we both actually worked with several years ago, died from a heart-attack on Sunday.  Evidently, he was water skiing, felt dizzy, and went to rest under a tree.  When someone from his group checked on him, he was passed out, and they were unable to revive him.  He died from a heart attack.

After Joe told me this, I dug out a paper and realized that I had seen this person’s name in the obituary section of the paper, but it didn’t register at the time.  I read the obituary, and was startled to learn this man was only 37!  He left behind a wife and two young children, around the same ages of our boys.  He was only a few years older than me, and only a few years younger than Joe.  He was just a month older than my older brother!  I feel very bad and sad for his family. 

This prompted us to realize life can be gone in a moment, and our aches and pains are nothing compared to what some people have to deal with every day, or what this poor man’s family has to go through now. 

At least we are alive to get older, and to feel our aches and pains.