We are in the

Final Lap of Life's Race

It's Time to Make Amends

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Rambunctious 

Wisdom for the 80s

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Welcome to the last decade of our lives for many of us. Not a subject many of us want to acknowledge but the objective among us cannot ignore.

We have loved our lives, our families and our classmates. We have had our share of triumph (victories over adversity) and tragedy (setbacks in a prayed for future). As we have aged (gracefully we hope) hopefully we have ever so slowly become steadfast in the Almighty, appreciative of the life He has given us and helped us accept the inevitability of death. We all have watched our grandparents make the journey and the vast majority of us have also endured the loss of our beloved parents. A few have suffered the loss of a spouse or Heaven forbid, even a child. For us, it is our time to face the inevitable end of the music and the dance.

After retirement in our mid-sixties, Suzanne and I realized that we had about 10 years to enjoy vigorous travel around the world that included major sight-seeing and unrestricted physical movement to and through many wondrous places we had only ever read about. Some had less and some will enjoy more but for all there is a life “travel window" for doing those things.

So now we have reached the 80-mile marker. Happy to Be Here. Now, what are the odds that a Ram born in 1947 and alive at 80 lives to see 90? According to the Social Security Administration, these are the sobering probabilities.

For Manly Rams: 33.6% will survive to our 90th birthday. Two out of three (2/3) will not live another 10 years.

For Lady Rams: 47.5% will survive to age 90. In other words, 1 out of 2 will not live another 10 years. Half will pass away.

I don't post this to make anyone feel sad or depressed but to urge all of us to make the remaining time worthwhile to ourselves and those around us. The short answer is to love your neighbor and do good every day till there are no more. Ten years ago I posted on our RHS 65 Page the following advice as we turned 70. OMG - where did those 10 years go already? If you missed it, here it is again with a few changes to reflect our aging wisdom.

Accept getting old. It's not just you - it's all of us. Acknowledge and accept the consequences of age and a life well lived. Act and behave your age. You don’t look like you did when you were 18 and you never will. Remember what our speaker said at our RHS graduation. We still had "many miles to go before we sleep ..." ... not so many now.

Focus on enjoying the rest of your life and appreciate the people around you. Especially loved ones, friends and classmates. The days of indulging in or accumulating material things should be ending. You can't take it with you ... and you shouldn't try. Don't hesitate to spend what you worked so hard to save on yourselves and the benefit of others. You worked hard to earn it ... you deserve to enjoy it or bless others with it in the years you have left. If you are still in your “Travel Window” and can afford it – do it. You are not obligated to leave anything for your children or loved ones to quarrel over. They are earning their own way ahead.

Live in the moment. Live for today ... live for the here and now. Don't pine over the yesterdays and worry about the tomorrows. Eleanor Roosevelt famously said of Yesterday: “You cannot change the past. It is gone.” Of Tomorrow she opined “You cannot predict or control the future.” But of Today she famously said: “You have this moment right now. It is a valuable gift, which is why we call it "the present." Wise words indeed. Today is what you have. Yesterday is gone and Tomorrow may not even happen ... but we still beat Bay High on a cold Friday in November 1964 ... that's still OK to remember ... and celebrate …

Enjoy your grandchildren. Good for you if you are so blessed but you don't have an obligation to care for them if they are in a safe and loving family environment. Your primary parental obligation was to your children. After you raised your children into responsible adults, your duties of child-rearing and babysitting hopefully were finished. Let your children raise their own offspring ... back them up where necessary ... it's what Rams do.

Take Care of Yourself. Stay as healthy as you can. Accept God's Plan and the unavoidable physical weakness, sickness, and other physical pains as they come. It is part of the normal aging process. Enjoy whatever your health allows.

Appreciate Yourself. Be grateful for what you have. Be proud of being a 1965 Ram. Stop working so hard for things you do not have. Life's races are done. If you do not have those things, it's probably too late to covet them now. At some point we all realize that “envy is ignorance” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Enjoy Life. With your spouse, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, your fellow Rams and other friends. They are people, who appreciate and love you for yourself.

Forgive and Accept Forgiveness. Most of all, forgive yourself. Make amends if you can find it within you. Reconcile with those from whom you are estranged if possible. Seek peace of mind and peace of soul. Seek the Peace of the Almighty.

Come to Terms with Death. Ram Heaven is coming for all of us and it is a natural part of the life cycle. Don't be afraid. Death is the beginning of a new and better adventure. There is a Ram Reunion going strong up there.

Arrive there with Ram Pride

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🔶🔶🔶

Never Forget Your Classmates

A young man was talking to his father about growing up, marriage, and responsibilities.  The Father said "Never forget your friends," he advised, "they will become more important as you get older. regardless of how much you love your family and your children.  Stay in touch with them somehow.  "What strange advice!" thought the young man.  "I just got married, I am becoming an adult and surely my wife and children will be everything I need to make sense of my life.“  Over the years, he began to understand what his Father was talking about.  Although time and nature carry out their designs, friends and classmates are life’s bulwarks.

Here is what we learned:

•  Time passes.

•  Life goes on.

•  Distance separates us.

•  Children grow up and are eventually are separated from their parents.

•  Jobs come and jobs go.

•  Our illusions, desires, attractions, sex ... weakens.

•  People do not do what they should.

•  Our hearts break.

•  Our parents die.

•  Our colleagues forget the favors.

•  Life’s races end.

... but a school friend, a classmate,  is a treasure who stays in your heart forever ... no matter how many years or miles you are apart.

When we started this adventure called life in 1965, we did not know of the joys or sorrows that lay ahead.  We did not know how much we would need from each other.  We loved our parents, we took care of our children, but most of all we have kept a group of good friends. 

The years may have separated me from from some of my classmates … but they are still … each and every one … my friend.  

🐏