Aging thoughts

Editor’s Note: This column originally ran in the July 15, 2010 edition of the Daily Mail.

What is your reaction when you hear the word “old”? Is there an immediateate positive thought, or an immediate negative thought? For most of us it depends upon the topic of conversation. For an antique dealer old can be a very beneficial adjective. But for the person looking into the mirror, it can be quite the opposite.

But in the season for reunions, old memories take top priorities. Nothing is more enjoyable than telling the old stories which are probably new to some in each gathering.

Many of our songs that have lasted for years (and therefore are the golden oldies) refer to things that are old. “Put on Your OLD Gray Bonnet,” “The OLD Folks at Home,” “The OLD Oaken Bucket,” “Auld Lang Syne,” and many more songs are expressing a rather typical emotion that “the scenes of our childhood” are dear to our hearts.

Our recent family reunion made me realize that even though I am one of the three of the “older generation,” that those in the next generation are no longer young. In fact, we can welcome quite a few into middle age plus.

What was interesting was hearing them talk about the “olden days” when the telephones had dials on them, or when TVs had only two or three channels. For those of us who had never heard of TVs until we were out of college, and who remembered the crank telephones with a “central” who talked to you personally, it seemed that they were talking about modern times. Then we started counting up the years.

My antique dealer friend has told me that anything over 50 years old is a collectible. Most of our furniture and some of my clothes then are collectibles. Also, almost all of my relatives from the next generation qualify.

Thankfully, middle age isn’t as OLD as it used to be, and OLD comes much later than in former years.

The saying that 50 is the new 30, and 80 is the new 60 seemed very true as four generations were playing and talking together.

When we played our traditional games, such as “Go Sheepie Beat It” (Run Sheep Run in game books) we observed many ages having a good time together. Of course I stood by the sundial to be the referee and protect runners rushing in, but memories of playing the same game with my father, siblings and neighbor kids were as real to me as the sweaty group last week. It was a thrill to introduce a new generation to this game on the family lawn.

Since the weather cooperated for us so nicely by holding off the Sunday stormy weather until almost everyone had left, we got lots of quality time sitting in the shade or under the tent. I hope none of the airline departures from Kansas City were delayed by the storm but we haven’t heard of any problems.

Our out of state relatives were favorably impressed with our town as well as our family home place, and I was thrilled to hear all the complimentary remarks about the hospitality at our Saturday meal in our church. No matter how pleasant it is to sit in the shade, sitting in an air-conditioned setting is always a welcome relief.

So, back to my question about the word, OLD is a very important word. New has not been tested yet. OLD has built a foundation for our lives. Without our OLD memories the present would lose much of its importance.

Thanks for listening to me on this subject. “It seems like OLD times having you to talk to.”