Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Joseph Epstein: "Old Age and Other Laughs. Am I Losing It?"

3/7/12.

Joseph Epstein has written a brilliant article on getting old (Commentary," March 2012).

Mr. Epstein ends his article:

"...At 75, I feel I am playing with house money - the rest of my life, as people used to say before the worry with cholesterol set in, is gravy. Lovely it would be to stay in the game for another 10 years or so, and I hope I am able to do so. But if some bright young oncologist or grave neurologist informs me that the time has come for me to cease flossing, I shall be mightily disappointed but scarcely shocked or even much surprised. On such occasion I hope to retain the calm to count my blessings, which in my case have not been few. Among them will be that I have lived in freedom during a time of unprecedented prosperity, been allowed to do work of my own choosing that has been appreciated and decently rewarded, while never having been called upon to betray my friends or my ideals. Another blessing has been that thus far I have dodged the land mines, the flying darts, and the machine gunner, and arrived at old age..."

Amen

(n.b. see 3/22/12 post for the entire article)

No comments: