Today I Am 65!!!!

                                                                     

Today I am 65.  Milestone birthdays are not my favorite thing.  I got a telephone call from my Medicare Supplemental carrier today to answer a series of automated questions.  “Do you need help getting dressed in the morning?  Are you happy?  Can you bathe yourself?  Do you use a walker?  You are doing a good job.  We are almost finished now.”  The last question the machine asked was if I suffer from depression.  I answered "Yes"….I am 65 telling my health history to a machine.  Of course I’m depressed. 

My Dad taught me to always look forward and never look back.  I try to live by that rule.  But on my 65th birthday it’s hard to do.  When I was born most people didn’t have televisions.  My family didn’t get one until I was 4.  I would go to my neighbor’s house to watch Howdy Doody and Susie Side Saddle.  Automatic transmissions on cars were extra.  Windows rolled up and down and air conditioning was the side vents.  Houses had single car garages, usually detached, because we only had one car. The country was still basking in the afterglow of winning World War II and was booming.

Harry Truman was President when I was born although the first President I remember was Dwight Eisenhower.   Downtowns were still viable.  Trains were still the primary means of long distance transportation.  People got dressed up to fly.  You had to climb steps to board planes.  Elvis was considered risqué.  Both men and women wore hats…even to ball games and amusement parks. 

People were considerate and polite.  Sundays were for church and family dinners.  Businesses were closed by law unless you were a drugstore.  Retail stores were opened one night a week and closed at four or five on Saturdays if opened at all. Clubbing meant nightclubs with Sinatra instead of Jello shots. 

The memories are intense; some of them good, others not so much.  So I try to look back selectively remembering the good things and putting the bad things into perspective. 

Maybe the health care automated machine was on to something when it asked if I was happy.  What an odd question, even from a machine!!!!  I actually thought about the answer because like all people I have some…many regrets.  But I thought about a sermon I heard in church one Sunday.  The minister told the congregation to look to the person to your left, then to the person to your right, then to the person in front of you, then to the person behind you, then stand up and look all around the church.  Was there anyone there whose life you would trade for your own?  I couldn’t pick one. 

We all have been blessed in one way or another.  Somehow we end up exactly where we should be.  I am blessed with a wonderful family, interesting friends, a challenging profession, and relatively good health.  I will never be a multimillionaire but I know where my next meal is coming from.  In all of my capacities I am privileged to work with people much younger than myself with one major exception…and even that’s okay.  Most importantly, I am continually learning new things. Learning new things is key. 

So on January 22, 1950, at 9:55 in the morning, Sylvia and Alfred Mangie gave birth to a baby boy.  Sixty five years later, the world is still stuck with me.  And if that machine calls me again, I am going to hang up!!

Comments

Unknown said…
Very much enjoyed this commentary, Mark, as I think everyone our age can relate to all those situations. Keep up the good work. -- John Pardee
5:37 AM
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