The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

On reaching the remarkable age of 75 there may be some thoughts I could share with you.

It has been a long and bumpy road fraught with danger along the way. Disease, insolvency, unhappiness and depression can rear their ugly heads any time.

Some say they feel like spring chickens at 75. I am not one of them. I feel my age in every step I take. In every twist and turn I make from dressing in the morning to just getting through the day unscathed.

But remember I have been more or less ill for a long, long time. That seems to have taken a toll on me.

This might sound like I am complaining. I am not. I am glad to be still here on earth and each time in my den that I hear the hot water boiler go on, even though I wonder how I will pay for it all, it is better than not hearing it go on at all, in more than one way. First, I am here to hear the boiler go on. Secondly, the boiler is working well and going on and off like it should. So, just little things like that should be moments of great joy for me.

But, alas, they are not.

I have always been a worrier. I am the classic case. If I have nothing to worry about, I make something up to worry about. But, in my life I don’t go down that road often. It seems that I can find plenty to worry about most any time I sit down and think about my worries.

Case in point, the hot water boiler. If it is off I worry that it won’t come back on. If it is on I worry that it won’t go off. Such is life at my house.

The golden lining in the worry department is that those worries I have worried about most, rarely ever come true. It is the little worries that come true and cause great consternation.

I have learned a few things along the way. One is that life is much better shared than trying to go it alone. Second, life is much better with a dram of brandy every so often and a martini on Friday and Saturday nights before dinner.

So, I have reached 75. I guess it is a blessing to have gone this far. Certainly I never thought I would make it to this point.

My dog knows I have been upset lately and as a result he wants me to hold him all the more. That is what is happening right now. He wants to be held. So, I will stop and hold him for awhile and realize that there are some things that are just too wonderful for words. For me, holding Fallie is one of them!