Posted on 06/09/2024 4:09:56 PM PDT by 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.'
Hmmmm... I don’t think I can snap my fingers anymore.. :(
You know that you’re over the hill when your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill.
Old folks boogy...
My problem occurred when I was in my late 40’s, heading to 50. I’d been divorced raising two sons alone since 1979. Both my parents were gone. I felt kind of lost after making the decision to end a 5-year relationship with a man I had been seeing regularly. I made the decision after my mother had passed, basically because there was no reciprocation from him in keeping the relationship going. I began to feel that if I didn’t have someone in my life by the time I was 50, I didn’t want to live. When I got to 50, I looked back on those thoughts and said: “What the hell was I thinking?” I’ll be 77 in August. I never dated or got involved with anyone again after that. I liked my solitude and privacy, and got to the point where I felt I didn’t need anyone other than my family in my life in order to survive. I was the baby of the family, and have outlived all my siblings. My only goal now in life is not to outlive either of my sons.
LOL!! I thought I was bad because the hospital I had been born in, in 1947 had been torn down, the grammar school I went to was turned into senior citizen apartments, and the high school I graduated from in 1965 was torn down as well. Even the hospital my two sons were born in, in 1966, and 1971 respectively no longer exists.
Seeing the Republic turn old and decrepit with me, possibly as near death as you and I, doesn’t help.
I too know the feeling. God bless you JR.
Thanks for Free Republic.
Growing old isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.
There used to be a saying: "Life begins at 40." For me, 40 was when I found out I had all these health problems.
Otoh, I feel for you, this is your zoo and we are your monkeys.. Apes together strong!!
God bless you, Commander. Thanks for all the years. I’ve been married to mine for almost fifty years and just plain appreciate her. May God ease your path. You are much beloved.
I used to ask God to let me live long enough to read all the books in my bookshelves, and then I'd cheat, and buy more books.
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred. Ecclesiastes 12:1-5 NIV
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; Ecclesiastes 11:9 KJV
I know how it feels sir. However, my fire of wanting justice for all of the evil people is STILL lit in spite of all of the pain.
And you're STILL a crack shot and a good dancer.
“Seeing the Republic turn old and decrepit with me, possibly as near death as you and I, doesn’t help.”
Indeed..we were all here for decades for one reason. To leave it better than we found it. We tried!!
Yes, that’s the hardest pill to swallow... leaving this mess to my grandchildren!
I’m so sorry!
That’s why I included this phrase in my book.
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” -
Thomas Paine
FreeRepublic is your ship, Jim, and you are our Captain!
Simply keeping this site in being is a monument to your efforts at letting patriots communicate to keep our liberties and a free country.
May God be with you and guide you in your future endeavors. You may be in momentary not but He is not and he will steer help to assist you.
Finally, “Don’t let the Old Man in.” Stay young at heart. Keep friends and family close and enjoy their company. Eat healthy, get some rest, and get exercise however you can!
You have a God given purpose, at least.
NEVER GIVE UP! Focus on something positive each day, shrug off the negative. Easier said than done sometimes but unless you are half-glass-empty by nature, and I don’t think you are, then this will all pass. Tomorrow’s a new day.
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