i have been young and now i am old

I was young and now I am old. (Psalm 37:25)

I saw a guy tonight at the mall that looked so much like I looked when I was in 20’s. He was big and tall, he had curly hair in a kind of afro, with muttonchop sideburns and a mustache.

I got to thinking. I miss my hair. I had great muttonchop sideburns and a strong curly head of hair and a great mustache. And I was big and tall without being fat.

Now you are thinking, what a vain guy. Thank you for thinking that. It is so kind of you.

But it is more of a feeling of loss than anything else. There is no way you can stay young and vibrant. It is foolish to think so.  But you do miss those things that you had and were able to do.

I watch my wife getting older and realize that life is winding down for both of us. It is only 25 years to 85 for me. That is less time to that age than there was to the age of 35, a vibrant time of my life.

But there is something to getting older.

I have been young and now I am getting old. And I have seen a lot in that time, in some ways more than I wanted to.

There are things I have seen that I would just as soon not seen, and there are things I have seen that I will treasure the rest of my life. Those things, along with the accompanying experiences make me who I am.

Because of them I am me.

I am no longer the man I saw at the mall tonight. Nor really do I necessarily want to be.

But I did enjoy the hair and sideburns.