Aging: The Good, the Bad, and the Tolerable
X is for eXit life
. . . older persons tend to fear death less than the young, and many can accept the idea of personal death with equanimity. At times it represents a welcome relief from the pain of a terminal illness. In other situations, older persons feel they are ready, they have lived out their lives and are able to let go. Strong religious or philosophical convictions can be of immense comfort in the process of dying. Attitudes toward death give clues as to the life that has been lived, reflecting the problems, resolutions, fears and hopes faced by each person during the course of his life.
Butler, Robert, Why Survive? Being Old in America. (New York: Harper & Row, 1975) 379
Exit Life
What is life but a wisp of air
that we must exhale upon our Death?
Life is a series of soulful affairs
loaned to us, we call it breath.
We are but just an empty shell
filled by what men call a spirit.
It’s love that drives us for a spell,
and in living we should endear it.
Tell me do we really die
when we enter that portal?
Have you ever wondered why
we are all born immortal?
For ‘matter’ can not ever be destroyed,
Dust into dust, ashes to ashes.
If you ever wonder we have enjoyed,
‘Tween living and dying there’s just them flashes.
Ricardo Fernandez February 7, 1947 – May 4, 2022
Getting Older: Charting the Uncharted 
I’ve always liked Butler’s wisdom. I wonder if today’s students even read him. I believe I first read him in my master’s program. Time-wise with this publication makes sense. It would have been almost new then, probably ground-breaking information that has stayed true over the decades.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I quoted him because I believe he is still relevant.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes!
LikeLike