Old age slips up on you in a snap of a finger

[Jim Robinson]

I don't remember when I got old, it just happened. One day I turned around and discovered I was an old man. Thinking back on it I think it was after my wife died. When Sheila died it took all the wind out of my sails. I'm now adrift, without rudder, without anchor and without a North Star. The bilge water is creeping up and threatening to put the fires out for good.

If you've ever experienced being dead in the water in the middle of an ocean, that's how I'm feeling right now. It's a surreal feeling.

'O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.'

[BlueLancer]

Sometimes in the morning when shadows are deep
I lie here beside you
Just watching you sleep
And sometimes I whisper
What I'm thinking of
My cup runneth over with love

Sometimes in the evening when you do not see
I study the small things you do constantly
I memorize moments that I'm fondest of
My cup runneth over with love

In only a moment we both will be old
We won't even notice the world turning cold
And so, in these moments with sunlight above
My cup runneth over with love

My Cup Runneth Over With Love - Ed Ames

[MayflowerMadam]

My favorite, bittersweet, line from a movie is from “Baby Boom”, when Diane Keaton yelled, “I USED TO BE CUTE!!”

For me, that says it all.

[luvie]

I think we’re all feeling those “old bones” and that rudderless feeling around here. Supporting one another is the best thing we can do. It will also keep truth alive.

God bless you, Jim, and saying prayers that your health improves. Also praying for Chris and John, who are working hard along side of you to keep the best forum on the internet up and running, to fight the good fight for America!

[Wuli]

Take care Jim. God has always been your north star, He just let Sheila help out for a time, and yes losing His helper, your helpmate can “take the wind out of your sails”. But only for a time. God and Sheila are still there with you.

[Vaduz]

Be thankful you lived no man is an island.

[freesia2]

May God bless you, Jim, and I’m sure he will. That you have some humor in there trying to get out means there’s some life in there still. I knew you had to be missing Sheila a lot, and with all your recent health battles, no wonder you might be feeling old and worn out.

During a much less consequential health problem a decade ago, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought “good heavens, you’ve aged 20 years since last week.” I’m not sure it wasn’t true because I looked in that mirror every day :D , but I’m younger than that now. I do think, though, I was probably looking even worse (like 90-ish) six months ago when my husband died after a tough year of illness.

I will include you in my prayers that you might feel reinvigorated.

[Albion Wilde]

“Remember how I told you that if you didn’t smoke and didn’t drink and ate only healthy foods, it would add years to your life? Well, these are those years.”

Then there's that joke Bette Midler told on Johnny Carson's final show before retiring:

An old guy goes to his doctor and complains of “silent gas emissions.”

“OK,” says the doctor, “I'll do a good check-up. First let's start with your hearing.”

Carson fell out laughing to the point of tears...

[MeganC]

Hi Jim.

I am so sorry for your loss. This last October my husband passed away and even though I have wonderful kids, plenty of friends, and a good life I miss him and I often feel lost without him.

I wish I knew something to say to make you feel better but I don’t.

If I did I’d say it to myself.

You are in my prayers.

Megan

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

OK, OK. Getting old sucks but how many of you would like to be at the start of your careers looking forward at the bombed-out ruble of an economy that the RHINO’s and democRATS have left us?

The one thing I don’t like is how much I have to pee.

But my friend and I worked on this and we came up with the following saying to keep us upbeat:

Urination is meditation...

So it gives us more time to work on our life-goals.

[Boomer]

So true Jim. Try as we might to "not let the old man in", it happens anyway. We all meet our end one day. Some are more lucky than others with a quick and painless sayonara in our sleep.

I hope there's a plan to keep FR going in the event your sayonara time comes unexpectedly. It's value is beyond price.

I've seen a lot of death in the last 2 years. Enough to realize it's not something to fear but rather something to accept as part of our short time here on this plane of existence. I believe the next step is so much better but no one should be in a rush to get there.

I spotted this on Facebook.

Founder of the Church Of Satan, the famous satanist, Anton Szandor LaVey’s last death bed words were, “Oh my, oh my, what have I done! There’s something very wrong, there’s something very wrong, there’s something very wrong!”

Voltaire (1694–1778), an atheist, said, “I am abandoned by God and man! I shall go to hell! O Jesus Christ!” David Hume (1711–1776), an atheist, said while dying in utter despair, “I am in the flames!”

Sir Thomas Scott (1808–1878), an atheist, said, “Until this moment I thought there was neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that there is both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgement of the Almighty.” Eternity is too long to be wrong!!!

Be informed.. Don’t wait until it’s too late. God is real

[Jim Robinson]

Thank you very much, Sam Adams! God bless you.

[Paul R.]

A few months before he passed away, Ken Hensley (main songwriter for Uriah Heep back in the 70's) took a poem a friend had written as a basis and turned it into a true gem of a tune titled "Suddenly". I was just thinking of it yesterday when I received a text that an old friend and customer was recently killed in a car accident. "Suddenly"...

Then I read your post, and feeling a great slowdown in myself the last few years (possibly a form of long COVID), "Suddenly" came to mind again. It doesn't 100% fit: Some parts of the song seem to refer to perhaps Hensley's realization he could no longer go out touring? Others read as if Hensley had perhaps received a terminal diagnosis of some sort. Yet there's no evidence he had received such. His abrupt death was "unexpected". Perhaps he was just prescient? The "official" vid* seems to be about a different kind of "suddenly" -- discovering infidelity from a spouse or partner. That I think comes from Hensley's co-writer (who plays the aggrieved party in the vid), and Hensley expanded the meaning of the song from not just being about having ones' life flipped over by infidelity, to including "life" "suddenly" coming to a close, or facing a "sudden" realization of an ending or endings.

*A less "distracting" (as one commenter put it) vid is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEaicvN8I9g

The song seems so... Troubled? Depressing? And then at the end the answer (the album is titled "My Book Of Answers") "suddenly" is revealed. As I said, the fit of the song isn't perfect, as I plan to be around for some time more, if in a diminished role. And we all certainly pray the same for you. Regardless, THIS answer always applies.

Suddenly, my day became night
Darkness killed the light
And put a knife through my heart

Suddenly, I heard a voice
Somewhere inside of me
I thought I heard it say "Don't turn away"

Was I chasing a dream that was never to come
Like an empty refrain or a sad, intoxicated drum
Will this nightmare put an end to the road that I chose
Or is this it...
Is my story coming to a close... suddenly?

I'm on the wrong planet at the wrong time
The winds of torment shattered every hope of minе
This isn't my moon, no this isn't my sun
And I'm still dancing to the beat of that invisible drum
Is this it?
Is my lifе really coming to a close... so suddenly?

(bridge)

Suddenly, another voice
This one gentle and clear
"When you've finished the task I have given you there
Come on home, you are welcome here"

"Come on home, you are welcome here"

[Paul R.]

Now for a humorous take on life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaCznLGBXbI&list=PL0_hB0vkeESTM1cFcMHzpbsx4M6kOvz5S&index=24

;-)

[Paul R.]

Just don’t play the next one, “Reginald”, in the album “Ice” if really bawdy stuff offends...

The title track & most of the rest are great, though.

[SamAdams76]

You as well Jim. Can’t believe how many years we have been on the Internet together (we go back to Prodigy days before there was even a real Internet).

[1Old Pro]

we go back to Prodigy days before there was even a real Internet

Same, 1200 baud and the www, WORLD WIDE WAIT.

[SamAdams76]

I remember the early days when we were told not to link images because it would slow down the thread!

Even a simple JPEG would take minutes to rastor and load on a 1200 baud connection.

[contrarian]

My realization began with the death of my wife from complications of Picks Disease. I saw death was coming so I went ahead and got grave plots for the entire family, got a beautiful headstone with the family name on it, and prepaid my funeral expenses. It really hit me when I started working with an attorney to set up disposal of my assets and arranging trust funds for the grandchildren. I too am suddenly old. To all by friends who say” You are not old! I reply “ maybe, but I can read a calendar. Thanks for giving me a place I can come to hear reasonable people discuss life situations in a reasonable manner.

[Jim Robinson]

Thank you very much military cop. God bless you.

[1Old Pro]

I'm now adrift, without rudder, without anchor and without a North Star.

You're not rudderless, you are Captain of The Free Republic, no need for an anchor, and sailing towards the North Star of Freedom.