The Aging Alphabet

There are three things in this world that we can never prevent. In no particular order, there is no way we can stop taxes, aging and death. Aside from natural or manmade calamities, these are the few of our least favorite things.

Whether we like it or not, we have to pay our remittances to the government. Try as we might, every day we wake up add up to the length of our existence and depending on the will of The One who has the power over us, He can always take back our borrowed life.

Let’s talk about getting old as we’re all going thru that one-way street.

Some of us are not so fortunate with our genetics that we had inherited from our elders medical conditions that

are considered health risks. Going thru the medical histories of our relatives more or less gives us a picture of what to expect as we advance in years.

We can’t select nor avoid genetics and the medical conditions that we had inherited but we surely can prevent the health risk associated with it. It’s all about lifestyle and the more sedentary we are, the higher the chances of making that inheritance prosper.

They say that age is but a number. Of course it is. It’s what you do with that number that matters. I’m more than halfway past 50 and yes I do feel my age. I’m not as nimble and agile as twenty years ago but since I was not lucky when genes were raffled, I try to be active whenever I can and humility aside, I can do a few activities some people younger than me find hard to do.

Simple things like washing the car, walking a few blocks to the church or supermarket and getting up for a glass of water instead of asking our grandchildren to do it already is a big help. It keeps our bones strong and joints lubricated.

We also need to downsize on our food intake because our system had been working hard already after all those years and we have to let our internal organs take a break. Reading newspapers, especially The FREEMAN, and of course this column, prevents dementia as it keeps our brains engaged.

Everything considered, getting old is a fact and some wise guy came up with an A to Z of aging. What used to be A is for Apple and B is for Boat now had different meanings. With a few alterations, here it goes.

A is for Arthritis, B is for bad back and C is for chest pains. Oh yes, things are getting more pronounced from hereon.

D is for dental decline, E is for eyesight that fails at night. F is for fluid retention and G is for gas, you know, the ones that comes loudly or silently, always with the killer smell.

H is for high blood pressure, I is for incisions, with scars to show. J is for joints that creak and K is for knees that crack when bent.

L is for libido, only the young now know. M is for memory, ha? Who? What? N is for nervousness, O is for osteo for bones that refuse to grow and P is for prescription, of course, I have a few.

Q is for queasy, we easily get uneasy. R is for reflux, one meal needs another. S is for sleepless nights and T is for tinnitus, there are bells ringing in my ears.

U is for urinary, there’s trouble with the flow. V is for vertigo, as in dizzy, like the world is on a merry-go-round. W is for worry often without any cause. X is for X-rays and the fear of what will be found. Y is for another year to add up to our concerns and Z is for zest, long gone but we still have in our minds.

We have survived all the symptoms, our bodies had already adapted and we have a few doctors fully employed. Surely they make us well but when we get their bill, we again fall ill.

Happy aging and let’s all do it gracefully.