Everyone prays to grow really old but the changes that comes with that phase of life is not talked about enough. No one prepares you for those experiences, you just learn to live and adapt to it.
Back in my secondary school, it was compulsory for literature students to memorize poems. One i will never forget is the panic of growing older by Lenrie Peters. In his poem, he highlighted the different phases of life and the experiences that come with them. He emphasized on the mortality of human and how one day, everyone must answer when nature finally calls.
I barely understood how important his poem is to our existence until I started getting older.
I get to witness Lenrie Peter’s poem play out in real time.
My grandpa turned 89 today, it was a bitter-sweet feeling for me. Bitter because he’s barely 15 years away from being 100 and sweet because I get to prepare for the biggest party we’re about to throw when he turns 90 next year.
I watch him become a different person each day. I learn new things about him and adapt accordingly.
Growing older comes with different challenges. Most times the littlest things annoy older people.
They require more patience and they would test your patience in real time.
You watch their health deteriorate with age and you can’t really do anything about it. People say it’s nature taking its rightful place. You watch them become weaker, their movements slower and their appetite gets smaller.
Five years ago, my grandpa had a routine of taking walks and jogging round every morning and five years after, he relies on a walking stick for support.
My fondest memory of him is that he made me love maths by all means . He’s one of the best mathematicians i know, and everyone around him had to be good at it, especially for those in school.
Surprisingly, at 89 he’s still great at a lot of things for his age. He still calculates effortlessly and his memory is still fresh.
He’s a lover of money and very much disciplined with it , so you almost can’t scam him thinking he’s an old man, you’ll get caught in real time 😂.
On the brighter side, we had a little celebration for him in anticipation for his 90th. It was an intimate barbecue sit out with family. We made a toast to longer life in good health.
My grandpa teases about living up to 120 years and I pray his wishes are granted.
Even with all the challenges that comes with growing older, i wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll choose having him here and going through all the stress than otherwise.
He still wears the brightest smile each day, still doing the things he loves and just enjoying himself as each day comes.
When I get older, I want to live just like him. He has lived a fulfilled life and now he’s reaping the benefits and just journeying through what life has to offer him for the rest of his years left.
I’d agree growing older is both a blessing and a curse. You never really know what to expect and how drastically a person can change.
The most important thing is to live a fulfilled life and of no regrets.
It’s already hard being in my early 20s, I can’t imagine being in my 80s, maybe I’ll understand when I finally get to that point.
You don’t want to wake up one day and realize you’re in your 80s and you’ve not lived enough or you didn’t live a life you actually wanted.
I don’t compromise on doing things i love that makes me happy because time goes by really fast without even realizing. This one thing, i learnt from my grandpa.
So live because YOLO😊