As an infant you were so cute, passed around from woman to woman with a lot of “he’s so cute” comments. You could cry and get whatever you wanted. As a kid your parents may have told you how wonderful, special or loved you were. They took you to baseball, football and soccer practice and put up with all of your annoying behavior. There was also lots of “do what you are told”, “how many times have I told you not to do that?” and “wait until your daddy gets home”. As a teenager you were still young and everyone wanted to give you advice to help you, tutor you and tell you what is possible in your future. You are a little dangerous now and would hear things like “don’t make me come looking for you”, “this is your last chance” and “I don’t know what I’m gonna do with that kid”. Even when you screwed up adults would sometimes overlook your mistakes because of your age.
After getting married your wife was constantly reminding you that you had children who were greatly depending on you for advice and support. There was always a host of financial and day to day problems that had to be solved by you know who. Midlife is usually pretty uneventful and there were no reasons to make any major changes. Now we are into the old age phase of life. “Have you seen my keys?”, “do you remember when?” and “where is the remote?” “Look in the sofa!”. In Native American tribes there was always an old wise man that would advise and lead the tribe. He was respected and everyone would listen to him. It is not like that anymore.
Nowadays when you turn 65 years old no one really needs you anymore. Your children have long since quit using your advice and your advice might be considered outdated and useless. Having reached this milestone I have realized that later in life fewer and fewer people need you. As a matter of fact, your wife may be the only person that truly needs you and sometimes this is in doubt. As time goes by the inevitability of your eventual demise becomes apparent. One by one your friends have passed reminding you how fortunate you have been so far. So, let’s be thankful that we are still around. We have not only survived since the 40s and 50s we have survived Covid-19 so far. We have lived during the best time in the most incredible country on earth. So, what if no one is depending on or needs us. That sort of gives me a good feeling when I stop and think about it. Many times, I have heard from others you have got to go somehow but I believe we all want to stick around and be useful in one way or another. I believe now more than ever is a time to be thankful for the many things we have accomplished and the many blessings that we have received.
My wife has this favorite saying she uses on me that “we never go anywhere”. The last two years she has been right about that. When it comes right down to it after 65, we should all be thinking about one day going to heaven and praying that the Lord has reserved a place for us in his kingdom.
