BEING VERY OLD

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person       

This is the first article I have written on Being Old since October of last year and now is near the end of March and I have begun to see my memory going south.  So, I am beginning to think that writing my BLOG all of those years has been useful in keeping my memory sharp. So, I am beginning to write again in hopes of saving what memory I have left and maybe getting some back.  Who knows…

But, the real question here is why did I stop writing my BLOG?  I am not a psychiatrist nor a clinical psychologist but I believe I was depressed.  I can’t think of any particular reason for this onset of depression that occurred last October.  Perhaps it is just plain old age.   

The first article I wrote for this BLOG was ‘Being Old’.  As I re-read this BLOG I noticed at the start that I struggled trying to find the best word for describing someone nearing the end of their life.  I used ‘Old’ and I have found that to be an excellent choice for it is accepted as the word to use in describing people who have become 80 years old. Now when a person lives to be 85 he/she becomes ‘Very Old’. I assume at 90 a person becomes ‘Very Very Old’.  My uncle is 95 so he must be ‘Very Very Very Old’.  At 80, I began to feel different which I soon realized was what ‘old age’ feels like.  And, each year I felt, well older. The changes were subtle but noticeable.  Not noticeable each day of course, but I suppose each month I could feel some difference.  I have found that being old and now very old is hard to describe and more difficult to live.

This feeling old beginning at 80 is interesting for I am not alone.  I have a friend who is a bit older than I am and too noticed a change related to old age beginning in his early 80s.

  

Certainly, my physical capabilities changed noticeably on a regular basis.  I walked most every day after I retired at age 68 for about 3 miles using the same route  Then the route began to shorten until now I cannot begin to even start that walk.

My balance is the other physical capability that I struggle with and bothers me the most.  I do balance exercises each day which I learned at a clinic associated with the local Medical School. Also, I go to the gym twice each week for balance/strength exercises.  Once a week, I do 4-mile aerobics at the gym on a stationary bike. So, I am trying to stabilize my physical/balance capabilities. 

Certainly I have found keeping mobile in old age requires lots of physical work.  And now not writing my BLOG for several months I found that not exercising my brain is not good either.

Several interesting things I have found in my very old age.  One is remembering things that happened when I was very young.  I guess being able to remember those things is good news.  Another thing is not doing activities which I started when I retired.  Some of those activities included volunteering at the Zoo and working at the art studio where I sold art, some of which was mine.  I use to paint water colors and acrylics.  I did many stained glass pieces including several windows for my best friend’s home in California. I have received awards for both my paintings and stain glass work. So, I did inherit some art capabilities which I am sure was from my mother.  She was an accomplished oil painter.

I guess the only recreation I do now is on a biweekly basis playing bridge with friends at our homes. I still have two women friends I see several times each week.  All of my long-time local male friends have died.  Living to be old and now very old is a recipe for being lonely.

Re death, I looked up longevity/survival rates for old people.  I found at 85 only 20 percent are alive and several percentage of those have some form of serious dementia. I write ‘serious’ because I think losing some of our mental acuity is probably normal and can’t be helped.

  

Longevity charts are interesting and become more interesting as a person becomes very old.  I was of course most interested in tables for men.  The latest ones I found on the Web were calculated in 2014 showing that at age 85 life expectancy was 5.91 years.  At my age of 86, I have 5.50 years to live or 0.41 less of a year that at 85.  At 87 it is 5.11 years left or now only 0.39 less.  So at my age of 86 I am expected to be dead when I am 91.5 years old.  Of course, the longer I live the longer I am expected live.  My uncle who is 96 years old has a life expectancy of 2.68 more years.

Another reason I think using our brain in old age is important was watching my father become seriously demented as he grew older beginning at age 80.  He retired from the federal government when he was 55 years old.  He hated his job even though he was very good at it.  For several years he worked at a liquor store and sold used cars so he kept his brain somewhat active. 

Then he moved to another town and began using his brain less which I think started his mental decline.  He realized this mental loss when driving around this small town he could not remember how to get home.  That of course really scared him.

Now I am not suggesting that old age does not affect our brains for we lose lots of neurons each day when we get old, but I think using it delays that decline.  You know use it or lose it. 

One thing I did when I retired was to write a full-length novel which I self-published.  Every day I was at my word processor by 8 in the morning writing for several hours.  I continued that for some 18 months.  Writing a novel is interesting and fun, for you imagine all of the characters and their actions.  Yes, the writer lives the lives of all of the characters and their many activities.  By the way, the novel is Mary and is for sale as an e-book for about $5. I am sure that writing this book was helpful in maintaining some mental acuity in my old age.

3/18

  

PS.  I will publish this Blog the same month that I wrote it.  I am several years of writing my Blog ahead of publishing dates of one each month.  Many times that delayed date does not matter, but when the date is important like my birthday I plan to publish it when it is written.

LIVING TO BE 115 YEARS OLD AND MORE

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

On the Web on January 20, 2015 I saw an article showing pictures of five women all born in the 1800s.  Yes these are the oldest living people in the world.  The oldest was 116 years of age and the others were ll5.  All were women which should not surprise anyone for several reasons the main one which has to do with the specific body functions of women.  And, of course genes enter into the equation I am sure.

Three of these super-centurions were Americans the other two were from Japan and Italy. Apparently all of them were still mentally alert and some had ideas on why they were still alive.  One noted that eating and sleeping was the secret and another reason was proper diet and eating a raw egg each day.  Living by the Golden Rule was important to one of these ladies.

I was surprised that 60% of these survivors were from America and only one from Japan.  I always thought that because of their low meat diet with loads of fiber, Japanese live by far the longest.  Still, Japan has a smaller population than America so looking at the ratio it appears that both countries are about even regarding long life.

The other country was Italy which once again was surprising to me suggesting that their diet heavy in pasta would be conducive to long life.  She was the person who mentioned her diet including a raw egg each day as contributing to a very long life.  Oh my, so much for this cholesterol thing.

Of course some political conservatives will argue that it is our health programs which are superior to other countries.  You know not having a universal health system is really healthy and conducive to long life.

Asking old people what is their secret in staying alive suggests that they are experts in this aging process.  In a sense that is silly for there are many reasons why they are still alive and eating an egg a day is not one of them.  Still, it is fun to listen to successful agers as in the back of our minds is the thought that hey one of them could be me!  You know if they can do it why can’t I do it?  Well for me it is because I am a man which eliminates the single most important reason that these women have lived this long.

Still, let’s take a look at their ages as they might relate to me.  I am now 83 years old (as I publish this I am now 86 years old) so if I live to be ll6 that leaves me with 23 years to go.  Now my present mind set has me living into my 90s which is a little more than 17  

years to go.  And, why not think that for my mother lived to be 92, my father 87 (both should have lived longer) and my uncle is 93 ()he is now 96) and going strong.

Now twenty three years left of my life sounds a lot better than 17.  Hey, I look back 23 years and I was just 60 years of age.  Wow, what a young kid I was then, still working at my job which I loved and retirement was not in my thoughts. But thinking about those 23 years and the next 23 years is much different which got me thinking do I really want to live that long.  And, looking at these women who looked pretty frail does not appeal to me for my future.

This many people staying alive at the age of 115 and older is a new phenomenon.  When I was young reaching 100 was quite an event. But not any more for in 2000 the total number of Americans reaching that centurion mark was 50,544 or about 18 per 100,000 people.   In 1900 and through the Great Depression that number was only about 4 so now there are nearly five times more people 100 years of age and older.  Of course statistically, the more people living to be that old means that there will be more people living to become super-centurions.

Of course the alternative is dying which has very little appeal for me right now but I am sure sometime the challenge of life will become too great to handle so when it comes it will be an interesting event.  I write an ‘interesting event’ which can have many meanings some fun and some not so fun. I looked up ‘interesting’ in my e-thesaurus and found many meanings for that word.  Some had a positive (fun) tone such as: attractive, appealing, exciting, and motivating.  Of course I had none of those in mind when I used that word about dying instead I like the other definitions such as: attention-grabbing (especially when it will involve me), out of the ordinary (since it occurs only once in one’s life this one works really well), remarkable (absolutely) and worthy of note (ah yes the obituary).

Back to those five women, I wish something had been written about their physical and mental conditions.  Like I noted before here that they all looked rather frail and I suppose they were in that condition.  One thing for sure I do not wish to live until I am frail.  I just enjoy life too much to be in that condition which once again my e-thesaurus defines as: weak, fragile, delicate, feeble, and in poor health.  None of those definitions really appeal to me just to stay alive.

Still, that survival gene that tells us not to die is very powerful.  So, being frail is a matter of interpretation that is a frail person can always find a frailer person.

What was not addressed was the number of the survivors who suffered from some form of dementia that I have read is found in a significant number of old people beginning at age 80.

The one thing which was not noted is the large number of their loved ones who have died.  I wonder how someone handles these many sad events.  I would suppose that most if not all of their children had died and perhaps some of their grandchildren.  Certainly, such events would make someone ask in their minds ‘why me?’

Of course ‘why me’ question can be answered many different ways.  Certainly, some people will think that it is God’s will.  Well, this answer brings me back to the original question, you know ‘why me?’  My answer is simply ‘lots of luck’ and ‘dodging that deadly bullet’.  Of course like I wrote before genes play a big role and none of these women smoked cigarettes.  Well that wasn’t mentioned but I didn’t see a cigarette dangling from any of their mouths.

1/15

DEATH OF ANOTHER FRIEND

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

First I want to let my readers know that I am not fixated on death even though I have written about it before which is expected because it does occur around me much more frequently than when I was younger.  And naturally it has become more common because the older a person gets more friends have died. So, as death occurs more often it is a bigger part of my life. Still I must be careful not to dwell on it too much for that is surely a recipe for depression, which is to say there is not much about death that is jolly.

My friend Bob died this last summer of 2014 while I was living in my condo in upstate New York.  He lived much of his life in San Antonio where I live most of the year.  I got to know him many years ago when I joined a local art group which operates a gallery.  We both served together at the gallery as volunteers one day a month.  We were both watercolorists.  I think he was a better artist although that would be difficult to gauge for our paintings were of much different subjects. 

He loved to play golf so many of his paintings were of golf course greens which he had played sometime.  When someone would admire a certain painting he would remark that it brought back memories of when he played it.  He was a retired army sergeant so he had lots of time to peruse his two favorite pass times which were of course playing golf and painting.   I did not know his age but I would guess that he was in his mid seventies, just a few years younger than I am.

In upstate New York where I live my summer there are many golf courses and I am sure not nearly as pricey as the ones here in San Antonio.  Several times I invited Bob to visit me during the summer noting the many golf courses he could play there.  But, we just talked about it.

Not all of his art work was golf course landscapes.  His most famous painting of which he sold many prints was of several people all men except for one woman standing in a line in the rain with their umbrellas opened over their heads facing the street waiting for a bus.  They were dressed alike in black suits.  The name of the painting is Commuters.  No doubt this was his signature piece.

I wonder which one of my many watercolor paintings could be called my signature piece.  For me it would be more difficult because I never had a painting of which prints made from it sold many like Bob’s did.  I did a painting which I liked and had prints made but they did not sell well.  So using my popular painting as my signature piece will not work

Gallery volunteers work one day a month.  Our day was the third Wednesday of the month.  The other volunteers for that day are three women so it was natural that we ate lunch together.  We always went to the same restaurant named Shilos pronounced Shelows which is different than its pronunciation as the site of a famous Civil War battle. The food is German, a popular place to eat and it is located on a major street in San Antonio. 

Our gallery is located in the Old Town a few blocks away from Shilos so we always walked.  Our backgrounds and politics were much different still we enjoyed chatting during our walk and while we were eating our lunch.  He always ordered a Ruben Sandwich and I generally ordered the Wednesday special which is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas and carrots.  To drink I always had their special draft root beer and Bob had iced tea. The subjects of our chats were not important nor do I remember any of them but they were enjoyable for both of us or we would not have done it for so many years. 

As I wrote before, Bob loved playing golf which he did several times a week at his club when his health permitted.  At times he would have some physical ability problems but they would go away and back to golfing he went.  One summer he traveled to the British Isles where he played on several famous ancient golf courses some in Scotland where golf was invented.

The only time we got together was at the gallery except for one evening.  I went to his very nice home to fill in for an absent bridge player.  I hate to do that but he was a friend so I consented.  Why I do hate to take someone’s place is because I do not know any of the players nor do I know their level of bridge skills.  Not that I am a great bridge player but I know a few conventions.  Bridge is a card game which is noted for the players’ ability to tell each other their cards without peaking. Obviously, this requires the use of verbal communication methods called conventions of which there are many.  So, much of the fun is the bidding process to gain some knowledge of your partner’s cards.  Obviously, playing bridge with a person one has met for the first time does present challenges which for me is not fun.

Working at an art gallery requires lots of patients for the day passes very slowly.  We begin our day before 10 in the morning when we open and ends at 6 that evening.  Starting the day so late made our lunch time at about noon come quite early in the work day providing for long boring afternoons.  Still, with friends to talk with who you see but once a month has it pleasures.

Bob was well known and liked by all of the artists for he had been a member of the art group for many years.  In fact he had been their president and because of his lengthy tenure was not required to work in the gallery anymore.  Still he came in regularly sometimes leaving a bit early.  On occasion he kidded me about my abilities doing my job as the gallery greeter. You know someone who welcomed a visitor when that person entered.   

I knew that Bob had some medical problems but I understood that he was improving in that regard so when I left for my summer life in upstate New York, I certainly expected to return to see my friend again at the gallery in the Fall.  Of course it was a shock to hear of his death which occurred suddenly following a fall in his house last summer while I was living in New York.

Falling down in a person’s home is common with us old people and can be very dangerous especially living alone.  I wrote an article before about a friend who died a few years ago who lived alone and fell where she lay for several hours.  And recently here in San Antonio a friend of mine and a TV celebrity Ann B. Davis fell and died in her home.  She too lived alone.

Now that Bob is gone I go to lunch with one of the women gallery friends who I enjoy.  We walk to the same restaurant and have our lunch.  We have enjoyable chats and I do appreciate her company.  Still I miss my friend.

Written 2/15 

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE OLD GRANDAD?

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

What’s it like to be old is a simple question with a very complex answer.  When I was asked that I thought for a moment and said that there was pain, some balance problems, and I fell a few times. He shrugged and smiled and went about his business. But, what a question and my answers were not exactly uplifting. But it got me thinking about this stage of life that I am now living.  Like I wrote about before it all happened when I turned 80 years old.  And, ‘years old’ is more explicit than ‘years of age’.

My answer stayed with me as I thought more about what it is like being old as I narrowed it down to thinking about my body and mind.  I must admit that my mind is about as sharp as it ever was which some people would agree with a smile.  But included in my mind are my thoughts and these are quite different as I tend to think about different things in different ways than when I was younger. 

I believe that our thoughts are tied very closely with our age bracket and I think there are several of those.  Exactly the ages of these stages of life will vary with each person I am sure but here is my take: Baby 0-3; child 4-10; teenager 11-19; young adult 20-30; middle-age adult 31-65; mature adult; 66-79; and finally ‘old adult’ 80-?

Of course some of these are by definition, you know ‘teenager’ for example. The age which got my attention the most of any age was when I became 30.  Oh my suddenly, I was not in my 20s what I call the young-adult stage which seemed to last forever.  There is no doubt that mentally when I became 30 something inside of me changed which I guess is when I became a ‘middle-age adult’.

As I thought more about his question, I began to think about my answer which was nothing more than a list of the symptoms of old age and not what is old age?  Perhaps that was the question he wanted to ask. And the one word answer is it is a challenge!  In a way that was what Art Linkletter reminded us when he said “Old age is not for sissies”.

Now when I say it is a challenge I must admit that it is a very different kind of challenge.  Usually when someone is challenged that person accepts the challenge and either wins or loses it. But old age challenge is something which must be accepted for an old person must take on that challenge each day.  And, the winner is the person who has taken that challenge and dealt with it each day in a satisfactory manner.  And, the same challenge will be there tomorrow or perhaps it will be a little more difficult challenge.

Therefore, the winner in the old-age game is the one who does not falter but accepts the challenge and fights it every day.  Simply if you do not like a challenge then you will end up rocking in a chair on the front porch thinking about the good old days as your mind and muscles wither away.

Earlier I noted that my mind is as sharp as ever but my thoughts are different.  I catch myself suddenly realizing that I am an old person.  Yes suddenly like I am surprised by this realization and which nearly all the time takes my thoughts back to when I was younger. Then old age had never crossed my mind. Suddenly I remind myself that hey you are not that young person anymore.  It is a very strange thought pattern.

The challenge of old age is one which requires a daily effort supporting your mind and body.  And, these supporting activities are not easy ones to accomplish most everyday because it requires activities which become harder to do each day.  And of course, that is this never-ending challenge.  Well that is not entirely true for it will end some day.

Now, I am the first to admit that this challenge is not an easy one for it requires both the mind insisting on doing what must be done.  And, it is so easy to think well not today but I will do it for sure tomorrow.  Of course like the musical Anne, ‘tomorrow is just a day away’.

I have written before about what I do regularly so I will not repeat those here.  And too what I do specifically are not that important it is just that I do them. But, it is not fun before they are done, it is after they have been accomplished that I get the reward that I have met the challenge.  Do I feel younger?  Of course not but I feel that I have accomplished what had to be done and that is a good feeling – no not a feeling of being younger but a feeling that old age has not beat me yet!

No not yet but it is just a matter of time for it always wins.  How much do you want to enjoy that ‘matter of time’ is the challenge for each of us old people.

A CHAT WITH MY UNCLE

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

This morning my uncle phoned.  In a way it was by mistake as he had gotten a phone call from someone with my area code.  It wasn’t me but I am glad that he phoned because we had not chatted for a few weeks.  We try to phone each other about once a month and yesterday I had planned to give him a call but it slipped my mind. It seems that more things slip my mind that did a few years ago.

I enjoy our chats because he is an interesting person who had several interesting careers including a few years with the federal government.  We laughed about that because his grade level with the government was always higher than mine in spite of the fact that I had many years more college than he.  His other jobs ranged widely all of which were executive-level positions.

Our chats are nondescript, that is we generally do not stick to one topic but today we got talking about being old and death.  Now those topics might be thought of as gloomy and in away I guess they are but none the less of interest to us old people. 

What got my attention and nearly blew me away was when he told me that his life changed when he turned 80 years of age.  For him that was twelve years ago.  Yes, he is but ten years older than me which happened because my father and his brother had different mothers.  My father’s mother died when he was about 8 years old.  His father remarried a much younger woman thus my uncle’s and mine relative young differential age.  I suppose he is really my half-uncle which never really sounded quite right.

I have written in this blog many times that I too thought my old age began when I was 80 years old.  He had never shared this experience with me before so it surprised me that we had the same feelings at the same age.  Certainly, this event enforces my theory that this is the age when we have outlived half of our chums so this is the beginning of another facet of our lives – you know old age.

We discussed this coincidence for some time with extremely similar experiences regarding our physical and mental changes.  Since we are men I wonder if this distinct change occurs in women and at the same age. I doubt it for women live longer than men and they age slower.  I asked a woman I play bridge with who is older than I by a few years.  She thought that she felt old when she reached 85.

Our conversation turned to death not our own but about the deaths of our friends.  One of his friends who was younger than he had recently committed suicide.  Apparently he was depressed about what could happen to him as he grew older.  I write the word ‘could’ not ‘would’ happen because we do not know what our future holds.  That is, his vision of old age could have been completely wrong not that it is great fun but I find it somewhat enjoyable for it is a new experience and it beats the alternative.

I recalled my recent experience of a friend dying which was quick and painless.  A death like we all wish we will have.

I find it interesting that death becomes more important than when I was younger.  Its importance has increase particularly and interestingly when I turned 80 years of age.  Like I have written before I look at the obituaries each morning in the newspaper noting especially their ages at death.  I see quite a few are my age which makes me wonder about me dying tomorrow.  I shrug off that thought as I feel fine and am physically and mentally active feeling like I will live forever.

What is sad is the number of people who have died at a much younger age.  Seeing the obituaries of people born in the 1940s and 50s makes me feel a mixture of sadness and just being plain lucky.  Of course everybody’s luck will come to an end someday.

So I wonder what these people my age died of as it is rarely mentioned in their life histories.  Regarding this life history thing I guess the longer the history the more important that person was during their life.  Or maybe the person writing it just enjoyed writing a long story.  My newspaper highlights one particular death with a news column type article at the beginning at the obituary section which is now know as ‘Life Tributes’.  I have often wondered how someone gets this special recognition not that it is important especially to the person who is being recognized for a good productive life.

My uncle had attended his friend’s memorial service.  He lamented that at his age no one would be around to go to his service which brought up an interesting thought.  What kind of remembrance do I wish to have, if any?  I write if any because at my age because by far the majority of my best friends are dead so who would attend?  It would be embarrassing to hold a memorial service and no one would show up.  Oh I suppose some of the offspring of my friends might show up, but can’t be sure.

If I would have some kind of memorial service it would be very short for my life story can not be of much interest to those attending.  Even my children and grandchildren would be bored for they already know all about me.

So, I close a rather gloomy article as death has a way of sucking all of the fun air out of the room.  Still, I enjoyed our phone chat, especially with the recognition that we both had the same changed feelings about life when we got to that magical age of 80.

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

Last night I had my usual Friday dinner with a friend who lives a couple of blocks from me.  These dinners have almost become a ritual with me doing the cooking and she brings over a bottle of wine.  As I uncorked the wine to let it ‘breathe’ she remarked that she had thought of bringing over champagne to cerebrate my birthday which would occur before our next usual Friday dinner.

Her noting my upcoming birthday was almost a surprise but not really for in the back of my mind lingered this near-future event which will make it 83 times I have lived through this ‘celebration’. And, at one time in my life it was a big event which I looked forward to with great anticipation for I would get presents and there would be a party.  Oh how I enjoyed getting presents in those boyhood days.  But, it was not only presents which I looked forward to it was the Angle Food Cake my mother always made and in those days it was from scratch. Yes, I was reminded each time that it took a dozen egg whites.  What she did with the yokes I have no idea.

Like all things I grew out of wanting that cake and birthdays.  In fact, I can not remember the last time eating this kind of cake and they are available in all grocery stores in the bakery department ready to put icing for a few dollars.  Still, when I do see one I think about those early birthdays and smile.

Of course as I grew older birthdays were less exciting to me even though the gifts I got were more expensive.  The older I got the less important birthdays became until now I try to forget them but of course that does no good because they do come around each year whether I like it or not.  I suppose I should relish them because there are fewer left!

Back to last night, I felt bad because I had forgotten her birthday in early December.  I think it is the 6^th but I am not sure.  I did remember it in the middle of the month when we were going to a movie so I apologized and paid for the movie tickets and bought us a serving of nachos to eat while we watched the movie. So my belated birthday gifts were received with a smile. Well actually it was only one gift because we usually split the cost of the tickets and the food. Oh, I think I bought us each a glass of red wine.

Even though I might try to forget my birthday it is difficult because my birthday is the same day as Martin Luther King’s birthday which is a national holiday. I make fun of that fact because not many people’s birthday is a national holiday.  Well the national holiday is not always on his birthday 15 January.  You know they tie these things to weekends.

I have a difficult time even remembering my relatives’ birthdays for some reason. And, I can’t remember ages. But not always for the birthday of my favorite uncle I do not know, I think it is in early June but I know his age for it is ten years older than mine. Hey that’s easy.  My late wife’s birthday was on the 30^th of August.  For a long time I had a problem remembering whether it was on that day or the 31^st. I struggled with that until very recently I realized that it was the same as my late sister’s birthday and a day before her daughter’s birthday which I always remembered was on the 31^st.

I have two of my three grandkids birthdays down cold because the first one was born the 4^th of July.  Who can forget that? Then the second one was born on the 4^th of June. Of course relating it to the first born is no brainer. Unfortunately for me the third one was not born on the 4^th of any month so I do struggle.  Of course I remember my Mother’s birthday on the 6^th of September and my father was born on 20 March 1906.  His birth date is clearly shown on his Baptism certificate.  I know that because I have it framed hanging on my bedroom wall.

My close lady friend has her birthday on the first of May.  Her birthday is easy for me to remember because it is the same day as my late very best friend’s birthday. We went to Veterinary School together and through many years I enjoyed his friendship.  He was as close to me as anyone could be.  Knowing that he was dying, I shared his bed the last night of his life. But for shame, I do not remember that date.

I have another crutch to remember those 1 May birthdays.  My major professor when I was getting my doctorate in physiology had a ditty which he recalled each May first.  It went like this, ‘Hooray, hooray the first of May outdoor screwing starts today’. He was a master at such outrageous humor and he knew hundreds of limericks which is a type of poem.  Now for my readers who do not know, real limericks are always what can be called dirty in that they involve sex in a rather vulgar way.  He enjoyed drinking and when he had his share he would begin reciting limericks regards of where he was.  How much fun!!!!

So, I have two close friends with the same birthday and my wife and sister with the same birthday. And, let’s not forget that my birthday is the same as the late Rev. King. Well this all appears to be a rather interesting coincidence but it is not for it can be explained mathematically, although I don’t know the formula.  But it is a fact that when there are just 16 or is it 18 people together the chances that two of them will share the same birthday is nearly 100%. I was aware of this many years ago so I tried it out on friends at a party at my house.  There were only 14 people in attendance but what the heck, I will see if it might work with fewer people.

Now are you ready for this?  Three people shared the same birthday!!!!  Oh my…

When I was born births were generally performed at that home with the assistance of a women birther.  Physicians were much less involved that they are today.  For some reason it was known by my folks that at birth I was to be a breach presentation.  This meant that I was to arrive in the world upside down and backwards.  How this was determined then is still a mystery for MRI’s had not been invented and I doubt that they would have x-ayed my mother. 

None the less there was great concern for this meant that I could not breathe until my entire body and umbilical cord had been presented.  For this reason, I was born in a birthing home with the assistance of a physician.  Obviously, my birth was a success without any serious flaws, I think but some of my friends are not always sure.

But, the fact that a physician was there, a strange turn of events occurred.  Being born close to midnight caused a problem regarding my actual birth date.  The physician who was busy delivering me recorded it as January 16, 1932  But, the nurses who were less busy, told my folks that actually it was on the 15^th so it has always been celebrated on that date.  Interestingly, even though my birthday certificate shows the 16^th all of my legal documents show the 15^th.  Oh my…

 1/15

MY LIFE WITH AND WITHOUT CIGARETTES

(AND CIGARS AND A PIPE)

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I write on this subject because I am sure this will bring back memories to my readers when we were young especially those of us who smoked tobacco. And, in those days the majority of men were regular smokers, primarily cigarettes.

I include cigars and a pipe in my title because when I quite smoking tobacco I was smoking all three each day.  I was up to three packs a day, a couple of cigars and my pipe.  I was in my mid thirties so it was sometime in the 1960s when I suddenly one early evening decided to quit and it was cold turkey. 

I started smoking cigarettes when I joined a fraternity house at the University of California at Davis (UCD) in 1950. I was eighteen years of age in my second year of college.  The fraternity was Phi Sigma Kappa a national one with a good reputation which included empathizing good grades and hosting an annual party known as the Tahiti Tussle.  When I lived at home I smoked a pipe occasionally but I did not get hooked on tobacco until later in 1950 when I left home and entered UCD.

In those days, a tobacco representative visited fraternity houses and explained how wonderful their product was especially to young college men.  Lucky Strikes and Camels were the two brands I remember.  At that time, there were no filtered cigarettes. And, at the close of the visit he gave each of us a small pack of 4 cigarettes.  Now in those days a pack of 20 cigarettes cost 17 cents – yes just 17 cents.  Yes a carton of 20 packs was $3.40.

We all knew even back then that smoking was unhealthy.  About that time Edward R. Murrow, the well-known TV news commentator who was a chain smoker, even on TV died of lung cancer at a relatively young age.  And, a popular song then was Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette which touted the dangers of smoking. Still, it was common practice to smoke in all buildings including people’s homes.  The only house in which I was not allowed to smoke in was my first wife’s parent’s home.  And, I thought that was most unfriendly.

With three Phi Sig friends in 1954 we rented a two bedroom apartment for our two years remaining in college.  Here, I smoked regularly and my friends did not object even though neither one of them had the habit. And, before I quit cold turkey many years later at Davis, I worked as a scientist at UCD in a small office room which I shared with an engineer and another scientist.  Neither of them smoked but they did not complain for some unknown reason for today as a nonsmoker I would have not tolerated such a thing. 

It is hard to imagine for a younger person to understand how popular smoking cigarettes was back then.  They were advertised everywhere.  Smoking was much more common than not smoking that is if you didn’t smoke something was not quite right. In the movies everybody smoked and on the billboards were very popular Marlboro Men and Joe Camel a cartoon of a smoking camel.  Interestingly, to move fast forward, all of the Marlboro men, depicted as handsome healthy western cowboys died at an early age.  The last one made many TV advertisements depicting the dangers of smoking cigarettes as he was dying of some smoking related disease.

Many years later, I had lunch once a month with that UCD scientist who with me shared that small office and he laughed about me smoking cigarettes, a pipe, and cigars all at the same time!  I guess smoking was so common then that even nonsmokers were use to the smell of burning cigarettes and inhaling that second-hand smoke.  Certainly, not anymore for almost everywhere and in mostly all buildings smoking is banned.

I return back to when I decided to quit the habit that early evening before I had my dinner.  My wife at the time worked for the Davis police, when that evening she told me about an incident which had occurred that day.  A middle-aged man had throat cancer from smoking and had been treated for the disease with radiation.  Unfortunately the radiation had weakened the wall of a major artery in his neck.  This carotid artery ruptured and he bled to death on his front porch in front of his family.

Now, I had heard stories about the evils of smoking before, but this one for some reason hit a chord with me and I said, “This is the stupidest damn habit, I’m going to quit right now!”    

Now I had quit three times before over those many years of my smoking, once for 6 months but for some reason went back to them usually at a Bar having a drink.  But, then for me quitting was not a difficult unpleasant experience.  I guess this is why I started smoking again.  So, I guess when I decided this time I was going to quit I was totally unaware of how difficult it would be.

What was most unusual this time was I quit in the early evening when normally I would smoke another pack of cigarettes before bedtime.  The other times I had quit I did so when I first awoke in the morning.  I never smoked in bed.

So, that day I went to work in my office without cigarettes and I sat staring at my desk without doing anything all day.  For three months, I did the same thing.  During this period of cold turkey quitting I told my boss that I did not know why he was paying me because I was doing nothing.  He had been a smoker and knew what I was going though so he just shook his head smiled and told me to stick with it.

And I did!!!!!!! 

Now here I am 50 years later alive and as a nonsmoker.  Of course had I continued to smoke cigarettes, I would have died many years ago.  My second wife finally quit smoking.  She never smoked in the house so it did not bother me.  She quit cold turkey even though there are several nonsmoking aids available which I suppose help some people.  She had smoked since her late teens, and did not find it difficult to quit.  I have thought about the vast differences between her experience quitting and mine.  Of course it is an individual thing, but one reason I think made the difference was that I was smoking three times more than she was.

Sometimes when I go into a store now and I am following someone who is buying a pack of cigarettes I must wait until the checkout person walks across the room and opens the locked glass container and searches for the brand.  The glass cage is closed and locked and the store employee returns to hand that person the pack of cigarettes. I am always shocked to see the price of that pack of cigarettes show up on the cash register - $6. 

My wife smoked about a pack a day so that translates to about $2200 each year she began saving.  My habit today would have cost some $6600 a year!  Now that is serious money.  Come to think of it, I would be dead now so the high cost of smoking would not really be a problem.

Written 1/15 revised 8/17

MY LIFE WITH AND WITHOUT CIGARETTES

(AND CIGARS AND A PIPE)

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I write on this subject because I am sure this will bring back memories to my readers when we were young especially those of us who smoked tobacco. And, in those days the majority of men were regular smokers, primarily cigarettes.

I include cigars and a pipe in my title because when I quite smoking tobacco I was smoking all three each day.  I was up to three packs a day, a couple of cigars and my pipe.  I was in my mid thirties so it was sometime in the 1960s when I suddenly one early evening decided to quit and it was cold turkey. 

I started smoking cigarettes when I joined a fraternity house at the University of California at Davis in 1950. I was eighteen years of age in my second year of college.  The fraternity was Phi Sigma Kappa a national one with a good reputation which included empathizing good grades and hosting an annual party known as the Tahiti Tussle. When I lived at home I smoked a pipe occasionally but I did not get hooked on tobacco until later when I entered college at Davis.

In those days, a tobacco representative visited fraternity houses and explained how wonderful their product was especially to young college men.  Lucky Strikes and Camels were the two brands I remember.  At that time, there were no filtered cigarettes. And, at the close of the visit he gave each of us a small pack of 4 cigarettes.  Now in those days a pack of 20 cigarettes cost 17 cents – yes just 17 cents.  Yes a carton of 20 packs was $3.40.

We all knew even back then that smoking was unhealthy.  About that time Edward R. Murrow, the well-known TV news commentator who was a chain smoker, even on TV died of lung cancer at a relatively young age.  And, a popular song then was Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette which touted the dangers of smoking. Still, it was common practice to smoke in all buildings including people’s homes.  The only house in which I was not allowed to smoke in was my first wife’s parent’s home.  And, I thought that was most unfriendly.

With three Phi Sig friends in 1954 we rented a two bedroom apartment for our two years of college.  Here, I smoked regularly and my friends did not object even though neither one of them had the habit. And, before I quit cold turkey at Davis, I worked as a scientist in a small office room which I shared with an engineer and another scientist.  Neither of them smoked but they did not complain for some unknown reason for today as a nonsmoker I would have not tolerated such a thing. 

It is hard to imagine for a younger person to understand how popular smoking cigarettes was back then.  They were advertized everyplace and everywhere.  Smoking was much more common than not smoking that is if you didn’t smoke something was not quite right. In the movies everybody smoked and on the billboards were very popular Marlboro Men and Joe Camel a cartoon of a smoking camel.  Interestingly, to move fast forward, all of the Marlboro men, depicted as handsome healthy western cowboys died at an early age.  The last one made many TV advertisements depicting the dangers of smoking cigarettes as he was dying of some smoking related disease.

I have lunch once a month with that scientist who with me shared that small office at Dave and to this day he laughs about me smoking cigarettes, a pipe, and cigars all at the same time!  I guess smoking was so common then that even nonsmokers were use to the smell of burning cigarettes and inhaling that second-hand smoke.  Certainly, not anymore for almost everywhere and in mostly all buildings smoking is banned.

I return back to when I decided to quit the habit that early evening before I had my dinner.  My wife at the time worked for the Davis police, when that evening she told me about an incident which had occurred that day.  A middle-aged man had throat cancer from smoking and had been treated for the disease with radiation.  Unfortunately the radiation had weakened the wall of a major artery in his neck.  This carotid artery ruptured and he bled to death on his front porch in front of his family.

Now, I had heard stories about the evils of smoking before, but this one for some reason hit a chord with me and I said, “This is the stupidest damn habit, I’m going to quit right now!”    

Now I had quit three times before over those many years of my smoking, once for 6 months but for some reason went back to them.  But, then for me quitting was not a difficult unpleasant experience.  I guess this is why I started smoking again.  So, I guess when I decided this time I was going to quit I was totally unaware of how difficult it would be.

What was most unusual this time was I quit in the early evening when normally I would smoke another pack of cigarettes before bedtime.  The other times I had quit I did so when I first awoke in the morning.  I never smoked in bed.

So, that day I went to work in my office without cigarettes and I sat staring at my desk without doing anything all day.  For three months, I did the same thing.  During this period of cold turkey quitting I told my boss that I did not know why he was paying me because I was doing nothing.  He had been a smoker and knew what I was going though so he just shook his head smiled and told me to stick with it.

And I did!!!!!!! 

Now here I am 50 years later alive and as a nonsmoker.  Of course had I continued to smoke cigarettes, I would have died many years ago.  My wife finally quit smoking the other day.  She never smoked in the house so it did not bother me.  She quit cold turkey even though there are several nonsmoking aids available which I suppose help some people.  She had smoked since her late teens, and did not find it difficult to quit.  I have thought about the vast differences between her experience quitting and mine.  Of course it is an individual thing, but one reason I think made the difference was that I was smoking three times more than she was.

Sometimes when I go into a store now and I am following someone who is buying a pack of cigarettes I must wait until the checkout person walks across the room and opens the locked glass container and searches for the brand.  The glass cage is closed and locked and the store employee returns to hand that person the pack of cigarettes. I am always shocked to see the price of that pack of cigarettes show up on the cash register - $6. 

My wife smoked about a pack a day so that translates to about $2200 each year she is saving.  My habit today would have cost some $6600.  Now that is serious money.  Come to think of it, I would be dead now so the high cost of smoking would not really be a problem.

1/15

WORKING OUT AT THE GYM

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I started this essay when I remembered that I had written previously on the same topic.  So I checked the Table of Contents I have made up for my many essays and yes there it was, ‘Exercise for Old People’. After reading that old essay I realized some things have changed so here is an update and somewhat of a different take on my exercise for old people.

Like I have written before I think exercise for old people is important in maintaining a good quality of life. I workout at the gym four days a week which is twice the times I reported in my previous article.  I write ‘workout’ is a bit of an inflated description for I see so many young men and women really working out.  I use what are called stationary weights.  These are stacked and attached to a cable which I in a sitting position, can pull with a bar to lift them.  In this configuration this thing is sometimes called machine weights.

I have been doing this weight thing at the gym ever since I retired some 14 years ago.  Most of the time I am not anxious to get there but once I do arrive I do my stretches then lift the appropriate weights. Of course many years ago I used much heavier weights than I do now.  But, then I had a different take on this weight lifting thing.  Back then in my young 70s I was always trying to increase the weights I could lift.  Now I have backed way off those sized weights to about half of what I once did.  Of course then I thought I was building bigger muscles now it’s just keeping what strength I have left.

In recent months I have added what I call my aerobics exercise. I pedal a stationary bike at a moderate speed for 30 min trying to get my heart rate up to 100 bpm.  It notes that I have traveled some 5.5 miles which of course I haven’t. This exercise I believe is an important one because it exercises my old heart which is a muscle and muscles need to work. You know use it or lose it and I surely don’t want to lose what’s left of my heart function.  You only have one heart so better take care of it.

This stationary bike in exercise terms is equivalent to a regular bike but it is not as much fun but it is much safer.  I have never heard of anyone falling off one of these things nor crashing into something.  For these reasons you don’t wear a helmet.  In fact a person wearing such a thing on his head would look rather silly. 

Even though with this bike you don’t get the adventure and changing outdoor scenery you can watch TV.  I am not a big TV guy but it does take away the boredom and allows the time to go by faster.  Also, I forget the leg pain while I watch it.  When I first started this bike thing I did have considerable leg pain but as I have adapted to this exercise the pain is greatly reduced especially after I have ridden it for five minutes or so.   

I want to say I enjoy these workouts but that would be stretching my idea of fun.  Still, I continue to do these things because I think they are essential to maintain a healthy physical condition which is required for a good quality of life.  And, as one gets older the quality of life becomes a very important factor in living. In that regard, it is clear to me that with my serious falls, which I have written about my injuries were minor because of my relatively good physical condition.

I have friends at the gym which I say ‘hi’ to when I enter or when they enter.  I am not much of a talker there.  For that reason I go in the mid afternoon about 3 when there are fewer people.  And, most of them are retired and of course many are old.  Still, there are always young people there with their very muscular bodies stretching their flimsy shirts. I always wonder why these guys are not working at some job where those muscles might be useful.

There are subtle rules at the gym regarding when a person can lift a particular weight.  That is if two weights are being used alternatively, the one weight not in use at that time should not be picked up by another person.  Still, many people don’t know that and I am too cowardly to show them the error of their ways.

But like I just mentioned I try to go there when there are few people working the weights.  Of course when I select the weights I am about to use I find that I am selecting a lighter weight than the one the previous person had used – not always but usually.  As a man I am particularly cognizant when I follow a woman at a particular machine.  And, my manhood is disturbed when I have to select a lighter weight than the one she had used. I rationalize this situation by reminding myself that she is much younger.  When I was her age I lifted heavier weights than she does now.

Oh yes, the young women who are there with their shorts on showing off their shapely rather muscular limbs.  That is a sight which brings back old memories.  Of course there are old women their doing their thing - I think.  I never really noticed.

When I went in the morning the gym was crowded with many friends talking with each other.  I watched some talk for half an hour before lifting another weight.  I always thought that was rather a waste of time but maybe I am just not the congenial type of person.  I go to the gym to workout not talk.  If I want to talk with someone I go to a bar.

The older people I see there I want to ask their age hoping I am older but thinking that I look younger and in better condition than that guy without much hair and more wrinkles in the face than me.  One man who is usually there when I am I believe is younger than me but he must have had a stroke for he walks with a cane and a noticeable limp.  He always has a smile as we greet each other.  He remarks, ‘Never give up’ as he begins to life a weight. I think that is the reason that every old person is at the gym for it surely can’t be for the fun of it.

12/14

I wrote this blog more than 2 years ago.  I still go to the gym but less frequently and I use lighter weights.  But like I ended this blog, I hope to ‘Never give up’, but it is becoming more difficult as I turned 85 years ago in January.  This old thing is coming at me faster than I expected and I want.

I am posting this blog later in the month than usual because I just finished going on a cruise for a couple of weeks.

SLEEP NEEDS FOR OLD PEOPLE

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I slept in this morning until 11 which is later getting out of bed than I can remember.  Attaining this sleep record got me wondering how much sleep should old people get each night and let’s include day time naps?  I think all information known to mankind is somewhere on the web so that is where I went in my quest to find the sleep needs for old people.

Being a scientist I understand somewhat the validity of research studies such as the topic of sleep which involves physiology because I have a doctorate in physiology.  Now, I am not putting myself here as an expert on the science of sleep as it pertains to old people.  I am just reporting what I found on the web.  And, I found quite a bit there on the subject of sleep but not so much on sleep needs of old people.  I am not surprised about the lack of information regarding us old people because not much research has been done with us in any field of science including medicine.

First I found at several sites this thing called ‘advanced sleep-phase syndrome’ where old people go to bed very early so they get up early.  This ‘problem’ apparently can be fixed by adjusting the circadian rhythm with ‘bright light therapy’.  I won’t get into the specifics here because this was not what I was searching for.

I found most information concerning other problems about old people sleeping. Interestingly these concerned primarily men for some reason and included simple insomnia, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disturbances all of which gets worse with increasing age. Well that was not good news especially when I read about many treatments for these conditions which include breathing exercise, yoga, restful environment in the bedroom, and cognitive and behavior therapy.  Once again this was not what I was looking for.

Finally I came across the fact that sleep needs vary with age.  Aha, now I am getting someplace then I read that sleep needs also vary with individuals.  Of course the question now is can these be separated?

As expected, I found lots of bad news about too little sleep which included daytime drowsiness, getting fat, diabetes, heart problems, a decrease in the ability to reason, and memory loss with an increased chance to develop Alzheimer’s .  On the other hand the effects of too much sleep, which was my quest with all of this research, are pretty much unknown.  Then I read that the average mortality increases in people with sleeping less than 7 hrs. but also in people sleeping more than 8 hrs. Now, this got my attention but as I thought about a window of just a single hour at 8 hrs. of sleep affects mortality rate I immediately questioned the validity of such a finding.

Another age-related sleep study showed that people in bed for 8 hours got less sleep with age.  That is ages 20-30 slept an average of 7.2 hrs.; 40-55 slept 6.8 hrs.; and 66-83 (hey that includes me) 6.5 hrs.  And, with age there is less Rapid Eye Movement (REM) which occurs with slow wave sleep which is the good sleep where you dream, is less in older people.

Then I came across a considerable amount of information on us old people but not our needs but more information regarding sleep habits which included: (1) it is not normal to sleep during the day even in older people; (2) role of sleep is not well understood and it is not known how much sleep people need; (3) old people do not need more sleep than younger adults; (4) old people have more difficultly falling asleep; and (5) older people sleep less.  I knew most of those things but what got my attention was (2) which made me begin to think I was on an impossible quest.

Yet in another study published in the Dec 2014 issue of AARP I read that 30 min catnaps provide an important midday pick-me-up.  On the other hand daily naps of one hour plus each day are 32% more likely to die of any cause. This information is opposite to item (1) in the above paragraph.

Finally, a breakthrough as to why old people sleep less: (1) we produce less melatonin (a hormone which puts a person to sleep); (2) we are more sensitive to the sleeping environment changes such as noise; and (3) sleep neurons in the brains of old people die off with age.  Interesting information but it did not tell me about how much sleep old people need. 

In the fall 2014 issue of AARP I did come across an article by Dr. Cohen entitled ‘Stay Well Forever’.  A rather misleading title as ‘forever’ cannot be measured in time and our lives are limited by time. One of his subtitles ‘Turn in Early’ caught my eye for it related to the sleep needs of mature people.  I write ‘mature’ because he mentions that people 50 years of age and older need 6 to 8 hours sleep each night.  Of course to get this much sleep when people are old in their 80's and generally retired does not require us to turn in early.

I am always dubious about articles like this which includes old people with middle-aged people and 50 years of age is middle age.  He does offer some sound reasons for the proper amount of sleep: (1) think better; (2) strengthen the connection between brain cells (you know think well); and (3) repair our bodies from that day’s stresses. Now this last reason makes sense and provides me clues as to the number I am looking for.  And, that number depends on several factors one of which involves our activities the day before we sleep. So, there is no magic number for it depends.

The word ‘repair’ Dr. Cohen used caught my eye.  Well, old people require more time to recover/repair from diseases and surgery.  So as I understand the need for sleep it is to refurbish the physiologic functions of the body after using them all day.  These functions get tired and need sleep to recover and in old people that takes more time.

These thoughts have been re-enforced when I came across an article published more than a year later than when I wrote this article in December 2014 which has yet to be published on my blog.  This article appeared in the March 2016 Scientific American on the importance of having a ‘clean brain’.  Recent studies have found that the brain has a drainage system unique from all the other organs.  Yes, it is this the lymphatic system but quite different in structure and function called the lymphatic system.  This system removes proteins associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases. And, it is most efficient during REM sleep!

So, with this information does it not make sense that we old people need more sleep each night to recover the rigors of our day-time activities?  Of course if there is no physical activity during the day then less rest might be required.  Still sitting around all day watching TV requires some brain activity so even a sedentary person requires sleep just to clean out the brain.  Certainly, this holds for adults of all ages.

In my case as I have written before I do daily exercises at the gym including muscle strength and aerobics.  I take three mile walks three times each week at a leisurely pace.  (Now two and a half years later, I do not take those walks and I work out less at the gym). With this much activity each day, maybe sleeping in once in a while is not all bad!  When I read articles on the web there is frequently comments by readers their take on the information they had just read.  Sometimes they add information mostly their experiences but sometimes knowledge on the subject.  During my search on sleep I came across many comments from readers noting that their grandparents or older parents sleep some 20 hrs. each day! Obviously these people are suffering from depression and have lost the desire to live any longer. 

To summarize what I found on the web about sleep in regards to old people: (1) we get less REM sleep, (2) can suffer from advanced deep-phase syndrome, (3) have numerous problems with sleep patterns, (4) more medical problems with too little sleep, (5) we sleep less than younger adults, (6) have different sleeping habits, (7) produce less melatonin, (8) have fewer sleep neurons in the brain, (9) sleep needs vary with age and individuals, and finally (10) more sensitive to sleep environment interference.

Wow, with all of those negatives regarding sleep with old people it is a wonder that we can get any sleep. So, I guess me sleeping until 11 in the morning with good REM sleep is a feat worth bragging about. Still, I was expecting a simple number for my sleep needs as an old person.  Obviously because of its complexity there is no such number for how much sleep we require. In fact I believe age has very little to do with how much sleep us old people need.  Like all humans we need as much as our body requires and that depends!!!!!

I suppose I asked myself this question when I slept in very late because I had some guilt going back to what my mother cautioned me when I was a teenager.  You know, ‘don’t sleep your life away’.  Oh yes I learned from my research that babies and young people including teenagers require more sleep than adults.  Hey, I think maybe I am returning to life as a teenager then I see one jog past me during my walk in the park.  I shake my head realizing that my life as a teenager can only be accomplished in bed and to make that clear, in bed sleeping.

12/14 revised 3/16