The American Spectator

home
ADVERTISEMENT
The Nation's Pulse
Print Email
Text Size

The Nation's Pulse

Aging

If you're lucky to live long enough, you'll recognize its charms.

Some of the aging process comes on slowly. I think of two particular incidents. In the first, I applied for a New Jersey driver's license about eight years ago.

"Hair?" the examiner asked me.

"Brown," I said.

The examiner looked up.

"You're kidding," she said.

"Gray," went down on the license. I didn't realize. I had been used to gray tips, but they always disappeared when I got a haircut. No more.

In a hospital some years later, an admissions nurse asked me my height.

"Five nine and a half," I said.

My wife, at my side, snickered.

"What?" I said.

"Better measure him," my wife said.

Which the nurse duly did. Five-five. Osteoporosis.

I got mine back on that one, however. Obviously, I can't swing standard length and lie golf clubs any more. So I got my first fitted clubs. Really nice.

SOMEBODY ONCE SAID THAT WHEN YOU'RE 70, you feel just like you did when you were 18 -- "except that something is really wrong." Until three months ago, I was still doing my twice-daily stretch routine, proud that I could reach beyond my toes, tie my legs into yogic pretzels, lace my hands behind my back, and so forth.

I have always been a prideful old cuss about such things. At my sons' taekwondo classes, I would outstretch my boys, let alone the adults. Overweight? Not me, not ever. Strong? I could pick up anything. Even when I was very sick a couple years back, I moved a double bed upstairs by myself.

Page: 1 2  

About the Author

Lawrence Henry writes every week from North Andover, Massachusetts.

Letter to the Editor Leave a comment

Leave a Comment

N.B. We encourage readers to share and discuss their thoughtful and relevant comments about this Spectator article. Comments are routinely monitored and will be deleted if profane, bigoted, or grossly impolite. Please be respectful. (And don't feed the trolls!) Thank you.

More Articles by Lawrence Henry

More Articles From The Nation's Pulse

http://spectator.org/archives/2006/01/20/aging

ADVERTISEMENT

SPONSORED LINKS

Special Feature

Better that we become a nation of choosers rather than beggars. Our symposium on choice from the May, 2012 issue:

A Time for Choosing

James Piereson

The Road from Serfdom

Stephen Moore and Peter Ferrara

FLASHBACK TO: 1984

Clip of the Day

Most Popular Articles

Meet the Flukes!

F. H. Buckley | 5.25.12

In Search of Muhammad

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi | 5.25.12

The Wisconsin Turning Point

Peter Ferrara | 5.23.12

Follow Me

Jay D. Homnick | 5.25.12

Age and Kyl

Quin Hillyer | 5.25.12

How About the Record of DOE Capital?

William Tucker | 5.25.12

In a Class of His Own

Daniel J. Flynn | 5.25.12

The Great Debate

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. | 5.24.12

ADVERTISEMENT