ALAS…..OUR FUTURE LOOKS A BIT CREAKY AND CRANKY
Let me begin with a bit of context. I am 87 years old……a well-worn 87. Like most folks my age I have been around the block a time or two.
Given the recent loss of my life mate, my world continues to shrink, growing smaller and more self-contained, more ‘alone’ than I like.
Fortunately, my mind remains more or less intact…..not as quick as it once was, but reasonably sound. There is no denying, however, that everyday physical activities are slower to play out, and sometimes simply out of reach. So how then do I deal with those late-life circumstances?
Well, I try to be realistic, to accept that age is having its inevitable way with me. The influence I have on the world around me continues to grow less impactful. No matter how strong my will, that is a fact of life.
So……given my experienced understanding of age, and the way it often works, what was it that I witnessed last night as a pair of our nation’s senior citizens…..Biden and Trump……attempted to make their case for leading and shaping the future of our great nation?
We have watched those two well-aged combatants bob, weave, and jab at each other for the last eight years. Given that history it is hard to know if their latest skirmish changed many minds. For most of that ninety minutes it sounded like each of them was preaching to their own congregation.
Still……by the time their less-than-civilized debating was done, and the endless commentary offered by competing analysts had faded away, this old guy…..all 87 years of him……was asking the most puzzling question of all, the one that neither of the debaters had addressed to my satisfaction.
HOW IS IT, THAT IN A NATION OF NEARLY 350 MILLION SOULS OF EVERY SIZE, SHAPE, COLOR, AND CAPABILITY, FATE HAS DETERMINED THAT THESE TWO TOTTERING OLD WARRIORS ARE THE BEST WE CAN FIND TO LEAD US?
How is it that our supposedly powerful political parties seem to have lost their ability to identify, grow, and nurture a new generation of leaders?
Have the cadre of wealthy donors, sitting in the background, checkbooks in hand, calling the shots, lost sight of what is best for the nation? Did they ever care about the rest of us?
And while I am in a questioning mode, why would I stop there? Take a moment to consider the state of our legislative bodies and our courts, the supposed keepers of our democratic promise? What are we to make of them?
Or perhaps we ought to take a moment to dwell on the most important question of all……the one every one of us late-lifers ought to be asking……WHAT SORT OF INHERITANCE ARE WE LEAVING OUR OFFSPRING?
Just wondering.
