Part 2: Aging Gracefully

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on Paaralang Bayan DZRB 738 KHz. AM with Ms Melly C Tenorio
8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Jules Verne, author of science fiction novels (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Eighty Days Around the World) lived to a very ripe age. 

Rip van Winkle, character of the short story of the same title by Washington Irving, slept for twenty long years. When he woke up the world had greatly changed, and did not even know who he was,   (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia. Lower photo edited by author to B & W) 

11. Expanded family ties; three generations not in a row, but in a chain. For the first time in the history of man that three generations live under one roof. And soon four generations - as longevity increases. While in the city the family is getting small, agrarian families are expanding because of longer life span.

12. Scientific and technological thrusts are toward aging, longevity: rejuvenation, on-site cloning of tissues and organs, ergonomics (designing tools and materials that fits well to the comfort of the user) - geriatrics, gerontology (all about the science and caring of the aged.)

13. Extension of retirement, active retirement – this is the trend today for old people. Soldiers become security guards; teachers become professor emeritus, executives as consultants, professions doing odd jobs. Age of retirement is not after all boring. So when does one really retire?

14. Foster, adopt, and have the needy, the homeless, the orphaned, the abandoned as your own children especially if you are childless. Even then, by the time you are very old, your children shall then be on their own. Be like Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie who have adopted children of different color. Sponsor scholarships for the deserving but are unable to pursue their studies.

15. Resurrection and immortality are myths. Humans will always remain mortals. More than a hundred corpses of rich Americans are in cryonics tanks waiting for the time to resurrect them. DNA extracted from cadavers and human fossils will never make a living replica of the departed or deceased.

Old man (Spencer Tracy) in Ernest Hemingway's  Nobel Prize winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia)  

16. Life cycle biologically - that is a universal given to everything, living or non-living. But with man’s rationality we can plot our life cycle, so with socio-economic matters. The late Justice Secretary Ordoñez wrote a book, Life Cycle. He said the inevitable is biological, but the way we live our lives, is within much under our control and will. “Men choose to live long which they have no control of, yet refuse to live nobly within their will.” So said the great Roman Philosopher Cicero.

17. Nature is selfish within your lifetime – you care so much for those close to your genes, to the point of dying for them. But nature, after you are gone is altruistic; it distributes your genes to where they will most fit in the name of evolution through which a species should be best equipped in order to survive. We can hardly trace our family tree beyond the third generation. Where are the offspring of the pharaohs, of the King of Siam?

18. Kindness is key to fulfillment; it is also the Golden Rule. “Treat an old man as you wish men to treat you when you are old,” say Geoffrey Chaucer in The Pardoner’s Tale. But be kind yourself as an old man or woman. And that kindness must be unconditional. ARK in Evan the Almighty means – Act of Random Kindness. That’s the way to change the world, so said God in that film.

19. Don’t just pass people along the way. Stop, help them, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, comfort the lonely, and heal the sick. In Matthew 25, Christ said, “What you have done to the least of my brother, you have done it to me.” Indeed this is the most meaningful act of human to humanity. You deserve a place in heaven.

20. Facing death is a beautiful thing to one who has reached old age. It’s like a candle in its final brightness. Angelus to the old who is dying unifies the family, gathers the broken fragments of relationships. Bonding is strengthened. It’s time for the living to say the kindest things about the departed. Let the occasion be a memorable and lasting one. Dying is leaving to the living a new hope, renewed love, and a new beginning. ~

                                The Old Man*

 He is old now 

            and the cataract is but a spring.

       He touches the spring -   

            where have all the waters gone?

       Yes, he sighs with relief, 

            his gaze takes him far away;

       And there the last drops of his waterfall 

            meet the sea;

       And the sea roars in gladness,

            roars a thousand cheers. ~

* Dedicated to the late Secretary of Justice Sedfrey Ordoñez, an adviser and friend of the author.