Monday, August 19, 2019

Sexagenarian Sign-Off

Haven’t been very good at keeping up the blog. I started late—at 64—and only posted three times, in 2013. So much for stick-to-it-ive-ness. So today I’m getting my last licks in on the brink of leaving the decade behind me.
In the first blog posting, I said turning 50 was easy. Everyone was doing it. But 60 was personal. 70? Impossible.
But let’s not go there yet. Still 69 and still berating myself for not keeping up the blog. Meant to, but life got in the way. And caregiving…

Life: mostly good.  Easy living at the beach. Still walking the streets with Mr. Darcy. Lots of new neighbors and new pups to play with. We lost a few of the old Yappy Hour dogs. So sad…Mr. D still stops, sits and stares when we pass their houses. I wonder—is he expecting to see them, or paying his respects?
He turned 10 this year, and he’s getting gray like his momma. Still walks me, though. Never mastered the Alpha Mom thing.

Caregiving: takes its toll, as many of you know. Lucky that my mom wasn’t sick, even in her 90s. She couldn’t hear or see too well, which limited her mobility and activity. I tried magnifiers, special lights and “TV ears” but she wasn’t interested. She slept a lot, but she never missed a meal…
She passed a few months ago, peacefully, in her sleep, in her own bed, at almost 94.
So, I’m dealing with a major lifestyle readjustment. Not having to be home for her dinner at 4pm, or worrying about her when I go out. Couldn’t call because she had stopped using the phone—unable to hear or see to dial. But I don’t miss her calling me from downstairs—“JUDY!” sounding the alarm—just to ask if it was dinnertime yet.
Not being a caregiver is oddly liberating, however, but also confusing and disorienting…

All in all, a good decade. Septuagenarianism begins next week, and I’m considering some options:

-Another blog? Probably not, since I didn’t keep up with this one.

-Another book? Tentatively titled “Walking Mr. Darcy”, about our adventures over the past decade.

-A road trip? A bunch of friends I haven’t seen for a while up in New England. They haven’t met Mr. D yet and it would be a lovefest.

-A new home? Maybe a place where someone else deals with all the maintenance issues. Or a commune—do they still exist?

-A new man in my life? Only if Mr. Darcy approves.

Whatever. If you have a minute—literally—check out the other three posts here. Especially the Sexagenarian Sing-a-Long. Sing it loud, sing it proud, fellow sexagenarians. I’m going to miss defining myself with that word because it makes me laugh.

Peace & Love, y’all. And, as always, Cheers!

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