Keith Barlow reflects on his birthday and his experience getting older.
I am aging – that’s the reality of existence. My aging began when Clotho spun the thread of my life. Clotho is one of the Three Fates from Greek mythology. Her sister, Lachesis, subsequently measured out the length of my thread. As the dealers of destiny, they set the course of my time on the earth.
At 63 this year, I am at the age that I used to consider old, with gray hair, crow’s feet, and grandchildren. I don’t feel old, but senescence has beset me with cataracts, barking joints, a reluctance to join the mosh pit and a dwindling circle of peers.
“As we age,” – oh, how I hate it when my doctor says that – but as we age, we make accommodations to retain our youth. Not superficial accommodations like hair dye or a new sports car. To actually compensate for aging, we eat more fiber, take more naps and we get replacement knees. And thus, we carry on…
But then there is the third sister, Atropos. She severs the thread of life that Clotho spun and Lachesis apportioned. What does Atropos have in mind for me? Is she lurking around the corner?
Old people lament that youth is wasted on the young, but I am lucky to be in good health and there is still a 20-year old soul thriving within this 63-year old frame, so I’ve promised myself to not let this continuing youth be wasted on me. I push back with regular exercise, I keep up with Urban Dictionary, I hoist both of my grandchildren at the same time, I cultivate my circle of friends, I donate blood and I look to the sunrise instead of the sunset.
Therefore, for my friend Fran, who chopped and stacked her own firewood well into her 90s and for all my friends and family whose thread has already been severed, you can catch me in the mosh pit.
With a Perspective, I’m Keith Barlow.
Keith Barlow is an IT professional in the East Bay, who thinks that it is never too late to have happy childhood.