‘The last of life for which the first is made’

Last week, I had the fun of watching “On Golden Pond” again. Wasn’t

that a marvelous movie? Of course, there’s a bit of nostalgia

connected with seeing it again -- two of the principals (Katharine

Hepburn and Henry Fonda) are gone, and it isn’t likely we’ll see

their equals again. But the dialogue in that play-turned-movie was

simply wonderful.

There is one scene that sticks in my memory so firmly that I often

speak the lines to my wife. Ethel has been out walking in the woods

and, coming back to the cabin, describes her meeting with another

couple while she was on her walk. She describes them so: “They’re a

very nice middle-aged couple. Just like us.” To which Norman replies:

“If they’re just like us, they’re not middle-aged. Middle age means

the middle, Ethel. The middle of life. People don’t live to be 150.

We’re not middle-aged. You’re old, and I’m ancient.”

And I got to thinking how often I refer to some “old fellow” who

might be only a few years older than I am. There are all kinds of gag

definitions for middle age -- like when your broad mind and narrow

waist exchange places, or when faced with two temptations, you choose

the one that will get you home earlier -- but when does it start,

really?

I grew up hearing “Old Rocking Chair’s Got Me” associated with

retired people. Yet that certainly doesn’t describe most of the

retirees I know. Go out early any morning and you will see dozens of

people walking along the streets. A lot of them are retirees who know

that to continue to live independently, they have to be able to walk.

No two ways about that. If you can’t walk, you usually will have to

be taken care of. They are keeping themselves strong and

well-balanced.

Some of them have been doing it for years, and have learned how to

keep it interesting. You’ll notice that many of them are wearing

headsets so they can listen to music, follow the morning news or

(like my street-walking wife) enjoy Books on Tape. They hardly ever

miss a morning walk -- unless it’s raining. Then they figure the

heavenly powers have given them a day off.

Come with me to the YMCA any day of the week and you will see the

whole place crawling with white-haired men and women, running on the

treadmills, riding stationary bicycles, lifting weights and enjoying

water exercise classes, while another group is running/walking around

the track. It’s great! And if you ask one of them his/her age, you’ll

be amazed at the answers you get. They’ve reached that point in life

where they’ve stopped lying about age and started bragging about it.

They’re looking good and feeling better.

More and more, doctors are prescribing exercise for older people.

In fact, an article I read in the Los Angeles Times last week

reported that doctors now believe seniors need a lot more exercise

than they had previously thought. And people who used work as an

excuse to be inactive are now making time for more exercise than they

ever thought they’d enjoy.

Along with all that physical development, our “mature” friends are

getting involved in all the activities they had little time for

during their wage-earning years. We have quite a few older friends

who are taking computer classes and classes in Adobe Photoshop. We

haven’t gotten to that one yet, but I’m pretty sure Pat will be

getting involved in it to enhance her enjoyment of her digital

camera. She has belonged to a group of photographers for the past 20

years -- a group consisting of shutterbugs whose ages range from 55

to 85. I think that makes her middle-aged, as far as that group is

concerned.

We get to enjoy trips with these “fotofriends,” either single day

or weekend outings, and they are fun. I have never met a younger

bunch of older people. They are enthusiastic, excited and full of the

wonder of life. They are all looking forward to things they still

want to do, and I do believe that’s what makes them younger than

their years.

I read once that old people give good advice to console themselves

for the reality that they can no longer set a bad example. Do you

think that’s true? Well, if it is, here’s my advice: Get up and get

going. As the song says, “You’ve got a lot of living to do.” It’s

like Robert Browning said so long ago, “ ... the best is yet to be,

the last of life for which the first is made.”

Enjoy it. You’ve earned it.

* Jerry Lane is a resident of La Crescenta and a regular

contributor to Community Forum. He can be reached via e-mail at

jerry5733@aol.com.