knowing better

  Woke up this morning and realized I have completed 10% of my seventh decade here on earth. Yes, I have reached seventy-one years of age. I received a birthday card in the mail yesterday, a custom or tradition whatever you want to call it that is becoming a thing of the past. It's my thinking greeting cards will go the way of the postcard. They are still around but getting mailed a lot less frequently. I'm old enough to remember mailing a postcard from the different places I stopped while driving on the freeway! That was a thing at one time, along with a folding road map. Yeah, that was a few decades ago. All of that is being replaced by the use of social media and google maps. Today everything happens at a much faster pace and convenience is king. But as I was always told, it's the thought that counts. I do get far more Happy Birthdays on my timeline than I ever got in my mailbox! I have to say it was a little better when I had AOL and that voice would say, You've Got Mail! The good old days.

  The card I received in the mail came from a friend I've known for well over fifty years. He doesn't have a computer and remains detached from all this social media stuff. He is the only person I know that is still resisting this "progress." Well, you can't miss what you never had. He doesn't even have an e-mail address! I expect many are surprised by that. How many times are you asked for your e-mail address? It has become an expected thing, like having a cell phone. That phone hanging on the kitchen wall is the stuff of nostalgia these days. I remember calling my friend, had to dial the phone, to tell him I was on the way. He would then time me, to see how long it took to run to his house. I lived just about three miles away and would run there without giving it a thought. No jogging shoes, no outfit to wear, no hydration bag on my back, just run there. We would then spend the day playing baseball and I'd run back home before dark. 

  Just the other day as I was browsing, I saw where the historical society was advertising a new display. It was a throwback to 1968! I was in sixth grade in 1968. They included a picture of a room containing some furniture and decor from 1968. None of that looked old or historic to me. Looked like someone recovered my mother's couch! Well, I guess after six decades that is to be expected. I might still have some socks from 1968. I joined the Navy in 1971 and here I am, 71. That seems a bit strange, a twilight zone episode. Referencing that show probably dates me as well. I remember who I was "in" 71 and now I'm "at" 71! I'm happy to report I'm pretty much the same guy, not much has changed. I've got some growing up to do. I'm thinking I'm almost ready, having gained some experience.

  I am beginning to think that life is like a party, just as soon as it is getting good, it's time to leave. You start out a wallflower, then come into your own and finally you're just tired you don't really want to go but you don't have a choice.  Fortunately, I feel like the party is just starting to roll. I'm one of the big kids now. Nobody telling me what to do or when I have to be home. Well, except for my wife, discretion is the better part of valor. That's experience paying off. My mom was right, I know better. 

  I have learned one thing. The past is always better. It's another one of those twilight zone things. When I look back and remember the past things weren't all that bad. I do remember how I thought at the time and how I thought things were so terrible. Turns out, they weren't, I just didn't know any better at that moment. People tried to tell me; it isn't that bad. Often, I didn't listen but as it turns out, they were right. It really wasn't that bad. So now I know better. I'm kinda looking forward to my eightieth decade, imagine how much I'll know by then. I will know better that much is certain. I'm growing up. I've learned you have to pace yourself, just like the president said! Biden is 81 and apparently, he has learned that and passed the advice along. So, his presidency hasn't been a total waste, I guess. Still, I have learned that you have to get old before you get to enjoy the "good old days" Talk about irony.