" Grandpa', can I ask without being too bold?
what's it really like to be....well... old?
I read lots' of stuff that makes it look great,
and although I'm thirteen, I can hardly wait!
You don't have to work! You watch lots of TV.
You can travel the world. There's so much you can see.
You don't have to raise kids, or mow your front yard.
You can hire lots of folks for things that are hard.
So, please tell me, Grandpa, I'd like to be told
what it's really like to be.....well..... old."
"Grandson, I don't mind any thing that you ask,
but to tell it all right will be quite a task.
The work part is wrong, for there's still much to do,
but how much, or when, is all up to you.
On seeing the world? We don't even like traffic,
so we see all the places on Geographic.
We can't hire a person to vacuum or mow;
calling a plumber is as far as we go.
I can no longer climb to the roof of our house.
If I'm caught up there I've got one upset spouse!
Things as simple as walking at night down a hall
calls for extra care to avoid a bad fall.
Prescriptions keep growing, along with their price,
and a raise in our income sure would be nice,
but our income is "fixed" so it stays just the same,
so, we're IN a fix in this fixed income game.
We don't last too long with a child in our laps.
The best part of day is our afternoon naps.
Our faith in the Lord means more every day,
and we'll go to meet Him when we go away.
So, it's not so much fun, but this is our lot,
to grow old outside, while inside we're not.
Don't fall for the stories you may have been told.
The old only know what it's like to be old.
Dale Pogue
July 22, 2009
