When I Get Old ...

[catherine]

I read Leaving and Loving the Good Life by Helen Nearing about Scott Nearing's death, and it was an interesting story--a point-by-point account of his death from her POV as his wife. The reasoning for them was, as I remember, Scott saying he was ready to die, and Helen suggested he stop eating, because that's what animals do--just crawl off in the woods and stop eating. So it seemed like, as Tybee says, Nature's Way to them, and that's what he did when he turned 100. Tybee, I think I vaguely remember him going to a nursing home.

I think protracted, expensive deaths are painful to all on many counts.

[frugal-one]

Saw in today's paper .. one of Bette Midler's favorite songs by John Prine... Hello in There .... brought tears to my eyes

HELLO IN THERE

We had an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta liked living there
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown
A life of their own, left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"
Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more
She sits and stares through the back door screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy
We worked together at the factory
But what could I say if he asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do"
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"

[Alan]

Saw in today's paper .. one of Bette Midler's favorite songs by John Prine... Hello in There .... brought tears to my eyes

He was 24 years old when he wrote that, one of his finest works. The verses tell the story and the chorus reveals the moral, I think it's an example of a perfect song.

[JaneV2.0]

It's certainly beautifully written, even if I doubt the sentiment is universal.

[razz]

Certainly a sad song to listen to. The immediate first response I felt in listening now to it for the first time is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Ch...nneWarwickVEVO

We can all do that.

[catherine]

Beautiful song. Truly. The lyrics are amazing.

Reminds me of Eleanor Rigby

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie
Writing the words of a sermon that no-one will hear
No-one comes near
Look at him working
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby
Died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie
Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No-one was saved
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?

[razz]

OK!!!! I protest this gloom and doom. We can do something about it, each and everyone of us instead of crying; go for a walk greeting your neighbours or find someone to greet. My dog and I do this twice a day and have friends along the different routes we take. People going by in their different vehicles usually take care to give me and my dog clearance and I nod my thanks. Now I get a wave from many of them. The sense of community begins with me wanting one and willing to invest the effort in creating one. End of protest.

[Alan]

Hello in there Razz, Hello!

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah, the pathos here is lost on me, but I recognize it's a problem for many.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Or become a hermit

oddly maybe I think I was always ever meant to be rather hermit-y, so if I become a hermit in my old age .....