Looking back a bit on the eve of my 78th birthday …
I useta get up the day after a marathon with legs so sore I could hardly walk. Now I don’t need the marathon.
I useta think my wife was lucky to have me. Now I know that I’m the lucky one and that spending fifty years with her is the best thing in my life.
I useta solve complex mathematical and statistical problems. Now I do Wordle and figure out how to fix the shutters in our office.
I useta ride a bike fifty miles a week. Now I ride a stationary bike that goes nowhere for 30 minutes.
I useta think that people were basically good. Now I look around at what’s going on in the world and I’m not so sure. That makes me very sad.
I useta be an engineer who thought he was meant to be a writer. Now I am a writer who useta engineer.
I useta do triathlons … swim, bike and run. Now do the old guy triathlon … I walk on the track at the gym, ride the stationary bike and shower.
I useta be a liberal. Then I was a moderate. Then a conservative. Now I’m not so sure I want to be associated with any of them.
I useta think that 78 sounded very old. Now I know I wasn’t wrong.
I useta know the words to virtually every song I loved. Now I still do but I can’t always remember who sang them.
It useta make me sad that no one seemed to feel music like I do. Now I know it is a gift that brings me untold joy and connects me to the Infinite.
I useta think I’d never move to Utah. Now I am happily living there, ten minutes from my grandkids with a view of the mountains.
I useta be a seeker. I still am and will be to the day I die. I’m OK with that.