Captain’s Log: Frailties

We had a family funeral a couple of weeks ago, which in my family is, of course, a sad affair, but also a reason to gather a whole big group of people together to catch up, reunite, and check in with each other. There are hugs and visiting, appreciation and celebration for our person who has gone on ahead, and a general sense of connection and well-being. 

Then my dad was in the hospital for a few days with pneumonia, and Sloanie’s baby is taking his sweet time getting here. 

It’s all added up to a lot of thinking about life here on earth, time, and our physical bodies. 

What a blessing they are, and how we should really be attentive to taking care of them. How in the end they fail us, in spite of all the care. We come in to diapers, and we go out in diapers. Things just don’t work right forever. 

My friends and I often remark and try to laugh about the phenomenon that has brought us to this stage in life, where we pause as we get up from the table or our desks, waiting for all the muscles and bones to situate and prime for movement. Gone are the days when we leap up and bolt across the room. 

But it's not just physical – our emotional being ages and changes too. Some of us soften with time, and some find age an excuse for bad manners. How many people do we all know who, just by making it to 84, think they’ve somehow earned the right to “say it like it is” or disregard the social niceties? And worse, when we start to lose our marbles, whatever inner way of being we’ve practiced in our youth very often becomes our outward expressions. 

We all know people who’ve been the sweetest humans and, in their dementia, remain sweet and lovely. But we also know people who’ve been crass and harsh, and that behavior seems to magnify, a habit of bad behavior manifested in their mindlessness.

Life is instructive if we let it be – I’m reminded to practice always being kind and thoughtful. To soften the rough edges, to cease with the sailor language. Just in case I’m not able to get all the marbles back in the bag before I get to 84, I want to be in the habit of using good manners and being easy to be around. 

So while we ditch the swearing around the office and break for more physical activity through the day, we’ll always be right here…

…Keeping you Posted.

Rach