1955

                     

So, yeah, Medicare.

Commercials that boom out "Attention Medicare..." in those awfully loud volumes with the American flag in the background always seemed to be aimed at someone else,...they were annoying....they just didn't pertain to me.  That was then.

Now, I pay attention.  Most of the people I sat next to in the small gym in a small town in late spring of 1973 are 65 this year and likely they are paying attention to the Medicare commercials, too.  Sigh.........that's just where we are now.   

A lot of life happened since I left the gym that day, a cocky 17 year old with very little fear, very little faith and a hell of a lot of audacity.  Brazen behavior paved the way for my life like the cobblestone streets in the city where my parents were born.  Bumpy, misshapen bricks, dings and ditches and colorful crevices - that's the road I took to get from there to here without looking back.  Disdainful, yes.  Disrespectful, no. 

The recent news stories of young people taunting seniors, licking their doorknobs, hoping that the CoVid19 virus kills off the old people...well, that is intriguing.  On one hand, those recounts feel like the epitome of "fake news" because I know quite a few young people and none of them are malicious.  On the other hand, there are copious examples of evil amongst us, from coast to coast with innumerable tentacles from the lower Maryland area.  Why should I be surprised with reports of vile youth when there are old fuckers like the Texas Lt Governor who want older people to just volunteer to give up their lives - as in DIE - so others can go back to work. Oh my.  There's so much I could say right now.....but shaking my head as I write this is just going to have to suffice. 

Maya Angelou said:

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

I have long since come out of the cocoon, emerged, flew, flew some more, here, there, everywhere and have landed safely to rest awhile.  I am embracing my age, my faded freckles, the crow's feet around my brown eyes, the caution in my step, wisps of gray hair and the deep, patient, breath I take before responding to stupid shit.

Still courageous, I'm trying not to be cruel.


About Jolynn:
   She continues to do well.  No longer needing bags of IV magnesium, her weekly visits to the cancer center are streamlined.  I am not allowed to accompany her on her visits but she does well on her own.  All of her numbers are right on target; no side effects except for occasional nausea and although she has lost a few more pounds, her medical team feels that she is recovering extremely well.  We will get more results from her bone biopsy in the next 10 days. 

 Hear Hear - a toast to my bricklayer dad and cook mom, both long gone.  Their oldest butterfly is 65 years young this year; she's not going to give her life so others can go back to work and she's not going to ignore the Medicare commercials anymore.  She's not going to lick the doorknobs of her young neighbors.  She IS going to eat birthday cake and VOTE in November. 
That's for damned sure.


                                        Ahhh, Elvis......
                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViMF510wqWA