Man, its tough getting old. That is a line in Homeless, a song by Guy Clark, but it could apply to a lot of people, including me.
Man, its tough getting old.
Up until three years ago I could nail with good consistency 25 to 30-footers at the YMCA gym. One day I was hitting everything I threw up, and including from half-court. I thought I was a combination of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
Now, I can’t hit a free throw to save my soul. It’s stupid. It’s bad. It’s horrible. Did I mention it was frustrating?
It was about 10 years ago I could bench press 300 pounds. I did a leg press of 750 pounds the first time I tried it. Now I might be able to lift 100 pounds and maybe do a leg press of 200.
Man, its tough getting old.
How did this happen? What happened to taking two steps at a time up the stairs? I should be thankful that I’ve gotten old. I know quite a few people – a couple of them real close friends – who did not get that option. They died way before they should have, or wanted to.
So, yeah, I’m thankful, but this sucks. It takes me a couple hours to mow the lawn and then just last year I had it down to 30 minutes. Where did that go?
This all snuck on me one day a year ago in May when I had surgery to remove a kidney and the cancer that had attached itself to it. I thought I was going in just to have the cancer sliced away from the kidney, but when the doctor got in there he realized this was more than just that. The kidney weighed five pounds and was too large for just scope surgery, which If he had just done that I would have been back at the gym sinking those 35-footers.
No, the good doctor reversed course and took out the whole kidney. The resulting surgery was major and the major part of it wiped me out for over three months. When the recovery period finally broke and I got better, I didn’t get better as much as I would wish. I’m, in fact, about 50 percent of what I once was, and thus the inability to hit a free throw.
So I got old in a hurry.
And, man, it sucks to get old.
As I walk among you at the store, at the mall or at the movies, I see some of you who have joined me. Some of you I have known from past sports events, and I’m shocked by what I see. Those young guys and girls I once knew as solid athletes are now limping along like I am.
Man, its tough getting old.
My brother’s mother-in-law died a few years ago when she was 102. When she turned 100 they had a big party for her, during which she stated to the gathering, “I don’t wish 100 on anybody.”
She, too, could join me in the refrain “Man, its tough getting old.”
My main problem is that my other kidney is functioning at about 25 percent, which means I’m closer to death than life. If something happens to that other 25 percent I’ll be joining my friends who didn’t get to be old, and then I can quit saying,” Man its tough getting old.”
I guess I can take refuge that I have made if further than my parents did. My mom died when she was 48 and I passed her a long time ago. My dad I passed June 9. Now I’m hoping to add 20 or more years, but if I do get that hope I hope I don’t have to continue to say, “Man, its tough getting old.”
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.