rubicon
02-25-2016, 02:07 PM
To my friends and neighbors:
One of the many problems with advancing age, not old age please, is there is too much to read about the end of life. Books and articles about dying are in vogue, but I could not finish Dr. Atul Gawande’s best- selling “Being Mortal”. I do not want to know how much my brain is shrinking or why my teeth will fall out. Spare me.
I am comforted by the realization that everyone is getting older and so we are all in the same boat. My contemporaries share my experiences, and they have the same fears and many of the same limitation as I do.
I am still excited by good books, and try to persuade others to read what hfriends and neigas thrilled me. But many of us do not want to be pushed. We prefer to discover good books on our own.
My interest in sports, baseball, of course, remains strong, though it is narrower than it used to be. I no longer watch hockey or boxing. But I never miss the world Series, or the Masters, in part because of the captivating natural beauty of the Augusta golf course. Despite a football lineage, my dad was an NFL official, I rarely watch the second half of the Super Bowl. The games are too long, and the half time shows are a bizarre remainder of music I do not understand . Why is there so much jumping up and down?
I spend most of my time in the company of my cherished wife. I think there is truth in the old line that old marrieds tend to resemble each other as time goes by. I enjoy visits with friends as well, but I have a rule : None of us can speak more than three sentences about medical news . I am certain my problems have limited interest, and so I fib a lot when I am asked how I am doing.
To me old age seems to be the art of keep going. Speed and direction are not important. Movement is. I swim but slowly. I barely walk. I write, but with an acute knowledge that my values and opinions are outdated. I still think duty, honor and country should be the national mantra. I know better.
The very best thing about growing older is that I no longer try and change anyone’s mind. I can easily accept disagreement from friends and even critics. I also have long surrendered any hope of impressing others, or of being impressed by them. In these final innings I want to stay at bat, even if I know that I cannot expect to get a hit.
I am not selling anything nor am I buying . I want only to be at peace and in normal discomfort . Age make life simple until it does not.
Yes the rear view mirror is where I get most pleasure. There I can run and jump and shag high fly balls in the many sunny baseball fields of my youth. There are still those joyful memories of good times and old pals and long dead family and friends . that is what is left now, and that has to be fine with me.
By Fay Vincent CEO Columbia Pictures, VP Coca-Cola Commissioner MLB 1989-92 WSJ 2/25/2016
One of the many problems with advancing age, not old age please, is there is too much to read about the end of life. Books and articles about dying are in vogue, but I could not finish Dr. Atul Gawande’s best- selling “Being Mortal”. I do not want to know how much my brain is shrinking or why my teeth will fall out. Spare me.
I am comforted by the realization that everyone is getting older and so we are all in the same boat. My contemporaries share my experiences, and they have the same fears and many of the same limitation as I do.
I am still excited by good books, and try to persuade others to read what hfriends and neigas thrilled me. But many of us do not want to be pushed. We prefer to discover good books on our own.
My interest in sports, baseball, of course, remains strong, though it is narrower than it used to be. I no longer watch hockey or boxing. But I never miss the world Series, or the Masters, in part because of the captivating natural beauty of the Augusta golf course. Despite a football lineage, my dad was an NFL official, I rarely watch the second half of the Super Bowl. The games are too long, and the half time shows are a bizarre remainder of music I do not understand . Why is there so much jumping up and down?
I spend most of my time in the company of my cherished wife. I think there is truth in the old line that old marrieds tend to resemble each other as time goes by. I enjoy visits with friends as well, but I have a rule : None of us can speak more than three sentences about medical news . I am certain my problems have limited interest, and so I fib a lot when I am asked how I am doing.
To me old age seems to be the art of keep going. Speed and direction are not important. Movement is. I swim but slowly. I barely walk. I write, but with an acute knowledge that my values and opinions are outdated. I still think duty, honor and country should be the national mantra. I know better.
The very best thing about growing older is that I no longer try and change anyone’s mind. I can easily accept disagreement from friends and even critics. I also have long surrendered any hope of impressing others, or of being impressed by them. In these final innings I want to stay at bat, even if I know that I cannot expect to get a hit.
I am not selling anything nor am I buying . I want only to be at peace and in normal discomfort . Age make life simple until it does not.
Yes the rear view mirror is where I get most pleasure. There I can run and jump and shag high fly balls in the many sunny baseball fields of my youth. There are still those joyful memories of good times and old pals and long dead family and friends . that is what is left now, and that has to be fine with me.
By Fay Vincent CEO Columbia Pictures, VP Coca-Cola Commissioner MLB 1989-92 WSJ 2/25/2016