Age

As I walk along life’s winding path, there walks beside me a shadow, like an uninvited guest. Running through the maze, the alleys, through roads unfamiliar, trying to shake off this wily presence, trying to lose this ever present, unwanted companion is impossible and most taxing.

Just as I think I have outrun him, left him behind, there he stands staring right back at me, in the whitening of my rich coloured hair, in the sagging of my tight skinned face . They call him Age, the invincible, the inevitable, the intangible, the truth that cannot be ignored, as he follows each one of us.

He turns the once agile and nimble sluggish, the once untiring and strong limbs weak and weary. The many chores and tasks easily disposed off in the past, become arduous and unwieldy. The unbounded energy of youth fading with passing time, soon to be a distant memory. At times, believing in the age old adage, the hackneyed phrase, ‘age is but a number’, we embark on adventures, that result in painful consequences.

The once bright eyes that shone like beacons, with sight like that of a hawk, when no speck nor spot was ever missed, whether near or far, grow dim with age, and along come those eye glasses to aid, to enhance the dimming vision. Ears once so sharp, even whispers, and remote sounds were amplified, start losing their capacity, and conversations are difficult to conduct.

Gone are the times of robust appetite that determined food intake, and the gut acquiesced. With age the gut dictates, and the tastebuds are less discerning. Food is no longer for pleasure but simply for sustenance. The teeth that once stood strong like sentinels, begin to drop one by one. And as time goes by,, actions and reactions slow down, lethargy assails our reflexes.

To Age waiting in the shadows I say, thank you for all the years when your gifts were many, when my wits were quick, and my senses sharp. Thank you for the experiences that raised me, that lifted me high, and for the ones that now humble me. Thank you for who I am today, for no matter what I may lose, my heart will remain the same, to love, to hope, to dream, to weep and my spirit within will continue to burn strong, to accept that which cannot be changed, and to endure till the very end.