When I’m Sixty-four

I am marking another milestone and passing through another threshold tomorrow. Now, I can really sing one of my favorite Beatles song: “When I’m sixty four!” I feel that I am coming full circle. I am coming back to where I started. I have gone out exploring and what wonderful and unbelievable explorations I have been through. And at the end of it all, I find myself where I started and know the place for the first time. It seems like I am learning a lot more in my old age than I did when I was young. And I thought I was a fast and deep learner then.

I came into the world with nothing, not even clothes on my back. In my 64 years, I have acquired and accumulated many things. Some I treasure; many I can do without; there is some trash and garbage; there is a lot of excess baggage. As I get ready to move on to the next level, I have kept my needs few and simple. Can I make do with just one half of what I have today? Yes, I can. Can I cut it down to one third and still be happy and contented? Yes, I can. How low can I go in discarding all the accretions and accumulations of the years and still be happy and fulfilled? This is actually fun.

I came into my nuclear family of origin, the first of four children. Over the years, the circle of people I knew greatly expanded. I have met thousands of people at work, in the classroom, in rallies and conferences. There have been hundreds I really grew attached to. Some have truly touched my life and changed me for the better just as there have been some whom I have helped change and become better persons. Now, many of these people are gone. Many were gone all  of a sudden. Others just simply drifted away. Still others are no longer around but I still keep their memories in my heart. Now, it is pretty much back to my nuclear family of choice. It is a bit bigger than my family of origin but it is still a lot smaller than when I had hundreds of phone number memorized or even more birthdates remembered and celebrated or even more people to meet, greet, please, lead and interact with. Today, there is greater joy in my conversations with Jane and Jonathan than in my meetings with important people in the past. The important people I dealt with in the past valued and listened to my words and often acted upon them. Jane and Jonathan are always questioning what I tell them and have to check it out first with Mommy or Daddy. Yet, the important people and I knew that our relationship could end anytime and we could very well end up at opposite ends of a proposition. Jane and Jonathan know that I will always be there for them to drive them to school, to cook for them, to play their interminable games and to sing their silly songs. I will always be present for them as they are for me.

Sixty four years of life: many happy times and some sad moments, many thrills and victories with some losses and defeats, much laughter sometimes so hard that it brought on tears, some tearful moments that somehow always gave birth to deeper joys. Through it all, I have tried to keep God present and be aware of his presence. And in some mysterious and wonderful ways, he has made it worth the while. I have had a life way beyond my expectations that I am always thrilled by the thought that the best is yet to come, that he has saved the best for last.

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6: 24-34