6 The Beauty of Being Old.

“It appears that upon reaching maturity, which I define as life after eighty, a transformation occurs that diminishes one’s ego significantly. Some individuals tend to repeat lengthy stories, almost verbatim, to their audience. Conversely, I experience memory lapses, forgetting key words during conversations, which leaves my listeners awaiting clarification as I struggle to retrieve the words necessary to convey my intended message”

NOTE: THAT WAS DOWNRIGHT CREEPY!! The previous paragraph is a revised edition of what I had previously written. I accidentally pressed the “Help me write” button that follows along whenever I attempt to jot words on my tablet. And that is what appeared.

Mr. AI has just put me to shame! His words are such an improvement over what I had put together. I have mixed emotions. Part of me is petulantly whining “How dare this non- human show me up!”

But I am also filled with admiration. A more effective way of communicating may save the world. And the world is in need of saving at the present time!

Yesterday afternoon we had a lovely interlude here at Silver Birch Lodge. Ivan, our Community Paramedic, comes once a month with his guitar (rather than with his usual medical instruments) For an hour-and-a-half several other tenants and myself enjoy an opportunity to sing old familiar songs along with Ivan and his guitar.

It was an uplifting experience for me. I have always thought of myself as being tone deaf, but that’s not necessarily true. It’s just that I don’t have the natural ear for music that so many of my relatives and friends are endowed with. At yesterday’s sing-a-long I was able to belt out the tunes, staying (mostly) on key and in time with our travelling minstrel.

And with the song book in front of my eyes, I didn’t have to remember the words.