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Growing old gracefully easier said than done
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Location: Blogs Sly Comments |
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| Posted by: Emory Schley |
4/15/2007 7:47 AM |
As I find myself getting older, I can’t help but notice that tasks I once was able to perform effortlessly now require an increasing amount of exertion on my part. Whenever I engage in some strenuous routine, I find that I very quickly get to the point where I am huffing and puffing for breath. It takes just seconds of effort, rather than the minutes it once took to arrive at that state.
Putting on a pair of socks is now much more of an ordeal than it used to be. Of course, part of the problem is the “spare tire” I’ve been wearing around my waist for a number of years. It certainly hasn’t sprung any “leaks” yet. In fact, I think someone’s been surreptitiously pumping ever more air into that “spare” (while I wasn’t paying any attention, of course).
Then there is the matter of the joints and muscles. The joints creak now where they used to smoothly and fluidly glide along with ease. Muscles seem to be much more prone to cramping and soreness. Sometimes, a cramp will instantaneously pop up even though there seems to be no cause whatsoever for it. One moment, it’s fine – the next moment, I’m writhing in agony. My toes seem to have developed a more or less permanent tendency toward numbness. It does come and go, and sometimes it seems like it’s almost abandoned me, but it always returns. It’s never very far away, always seemingly in some dark corner of my being, waiting to pounce unexpectedly at the slightest provocation.
Now sometimes, when trying to recall a name or a number, the ability to do so seems to be on vacation. Names of people I’ve known for years suddenly evaporate just as I’m about to address them. I’m left with my finger in the air, and my lips encircled, ready to say, “Hey there, – ” when suddenly the name of the person I’m trying to call just absolutely refuses to bubble to the surface of my thoughts. It’s most aggravating, and I fear it will only increase with the passage of time. One time about a year ago, I was trying to recall the name of a co-worker, and it just wasn’t popping to the surface of the old gray matter. I deliberately avoided walking past that person’s desk so I couldn’t “cheat” by glancing at a nameplate on the desk. I tried, from time to time, for several days before the name suddenly broke loose from the logjam and came rushing up into my consciousness. Not remembering a name is something that’s happened to me many times before, even in my youth, but it never took me several days to work through the matter.
The ability to hear well is slowly going downhill, too, along with the ability to discriminate between various noise sources. I think the loss of auditory discrimination is probably just as important as the degradation in hearing capability.
My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about six years ago and those of us in the family watched her slowly decline over the years until she finally passed away this last January. Each time, some anomaly of aging happens to me, I can’t help but wonder, “Is this how it starts?” That fear of Alzheimer’s is never far from the surface of my thoughts. I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with me other than growing older, but sometimes, that nagging feeling of doubt makes me wonder if I’m not just deluding myself.
But no matter what the condition – as long as we’re living and breathing, and can still get up each morning and make our way across the room under our own power, and totally unassisted, then I guess we really shouldn’t complain. We just need to take great joy in realizing that the situation could be much worse – and because it is not, then we are therefore all truly blessed! |
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