The old man proudly announced that he attended services at least once every week. What he didn't say was how they are mostly for his friends, may they rest in peace.

Here's my challenge for today. Try to get my Tuesday's thoughts put down on my Tuesday blog. Therefore, I bring you a big ole Texas howdy from this transplanted Louisiana boy, here on this Tuesday, May 8, 2012. I know. After over forty years I probably should drop the transplanted moniker but those are my roots and I still connect my identity in that way. Also calling myself a boy might be a little off the mark since I will soon be reaching that signpost indicating I have arrived at Route 66. But, it's the way we talk to each other and let me just say this about that. There are times when I am bustling here and there, doing this or that, at a pretty decent pace, and the thought comes to me that surely I am not the age listed on my driver's license. I mean I just don't feel it. At those times I can't tell you what age I do feel but it's like I can't imagine myself to be the age that my documentation affirms. Silly? I suppose, but it does happen. Then there are the other times when you don't need a road map to account for the miles you have traveled. You seem to feel the impact of each and every bump or pothole you've encountered along the way. I actually prefer the silly feeling about having trouble grasping that I could be the age I am to that other one where all those noisy relatives make themselves so well known. You know. Uncle Arthur (arthritis), Aunt Rhemy (rheumatism), and good old Uncle Bursy (bursitis). Then you have the cousins who also make their presence known. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about and while I am not trying to alarm you, but do know this, the rest of you will become intimately familiar with these folks, at some point and time.

If nothing else, us older folks do get to be the object of many funny stories. Like the one about how that older people give generously to the Boy Scouts because without the scouts they could never get across the street. I know many of the younger folks think we sit around playing spin the bottle of Mylanta or maybe a game called Sag. Of course we all smile when we hear the one where the little kid asks his Grandpa if he can make a sound like a frog. Grandpa is puzzled and asked why he would want him to. The kid answers because Grandma said as soon as you croak we are all going to Disney World. Maybe it is time to remind everyone about the peculiar values and advantages that come to the older generation. We get to take a lot of naps. We get to feign hard of hearing when we don't want to deal with what the other person is saying. We get a lot of recognition when we are driving. Everyone must like us because they often honk at us. We also get to eat supper at 4 p.m. We get to exchange Medicare stories. That reminds me of the one about the older guy who asked what to do about his wife's loss of hearing. The doctor told him to test it by standing about 40 feet away and asking a question and then get closer and ask it again. So the old fellow followed the doctor's instruction and called out to his wife from 40 feet away, "What's for dinner?" No answer. He got closer and repeated the question. Finally he was right next to her and she scolded him and said, "For the fifth time, we are having chicken!"

If older people are supposed to slow down, my parents did not get the memo. Dad is amazing. He goes from sun up to sundown and reflects the spirit of going from can to can't each day. Mom really impressed me last week when she was able to coordinate an internet recovery on her own. I have a utility so that I can log on to her computer but I can't do it if the internet is not working on her end. I told her she could locate the 1-800 help number on her phone bill and give them a call. Do you know she did call them and they were on the phone with her for over an hour and the fellow walked her through all the menus and resets that got her service back up and going. Wow! The technician complimented mom for being able to do what she did at 88 years young. Given my exposure to those types of interactions with technicians, I can tell you it is not for the fainthearted. These two senior saints are hard acts to follow but they do prove that with God's blessings we don't have to settle for playing musical recliners as we embrace the life God has given to us along with the years He provides. My mom's greatest complaint was how that doing all of that interfered with the big meal she was cooking for a former pastor and his wife who are shut ins. Makes me want to get up and do something. Or maybe I'll just think about thinking about doing something. Or, perhaps if I wait long enough, this too shall pass. Take care and may God bless each one.  Amen.       ....More later.