Tuesday June 7 2016  HEADING SOUTH

It is a late night for me and I’m just beginning to type my blog.  So I do hope it is very short as I would like to get up by 4:30 a.m. or a little after.

As we age, which all of us are currently actively doing, our bodies are continually changing.  We see the most rapid changes in newborns as we witness their fast growing bodies changing by the week.  We watch the toddler and school age kids and notice the yearly changes as they grow and mature.  The years mount on into adolescence, teen years, and then young adults.  And all the while cells are multiplying and dividing, dying as others rejuvenate the body.  And for a long time things seems to go steadily along, not much outward change, but a lot going on inside those wonderful machines we so often take for granted.  We may put on a few pounds (or a lot), exercise or not, eat too much or not enough, and we really don’t give our bodies much thought or appreciation.  UNTIL…

All of a sudden we feel a bit creaky here or there.  One day it might be something simple like a big toe with shooting pain.  Another day we wake up and an elbow might be a little cranky.  A few days pass and all works well until we wake up and put our feet on the ground and find that the knee has a shooting pain in it that wasn’t there when we got up in the middle of the night for a bathroom run.  And as many parts as the body has, any one part might bring to your attention that it too has a gripe.  And as quickly as a few minutes, a few hours or even a few days the pain will just disappear as quickly and unexpectedly as it made its appearance.

Well, that happens more and more frequently as the years pass.  I used to look at really old people (the ones who were 50 or older) and wonder how did they get so decrepit.  Well, I will be glad to inform you how.  First of all it didn’t just happen all in one day.  No sir!  It snuck up on them silently and unaware, just one little part of them “going south” at a time.  First the toe, then the elbow, then the knee and all of the other little surprises.  They go and come like quiet thieves in in the night.  You never know how they got in but they can sure cause a lot of damage.

Dave and I call our sneaky little visitors “The flavor of the day”.  But now as Dave and I have gotten older than we ever thought imaginable, those little visitors seem to hang on a bit longer, are not so inclined to leave as quickly as they came.  And slowly it becomes a constant companion.  As I was thinking about this morning while I was journaling the following poem slithered into my journal through aching fingers.

HEADING SOUTH

By Kathleen Martens

June 7, 2016

Little pieces at a time

Seem to be heading south.

For me I suppose I’m fortunate

That it is not my mouth.

Because I have so much to say

As thoughts swirl in my head,

And this way I can speak what I write

And others can hear what I’ve said.

But my feet have long since gone

And thankfully surgery brought them home.

And my knee, reservations sought

But I pampered it to no longer roam.

And my elbow said farewell

And was gone for quite some time.

And after it returned to work

My shoulder wished to be supine.

Every morning when I wake

I seem to have a new flavor of pain.

It seems to roam from place to place

As if such gallivanting is only a game.

And as the years take their toll

I’ve learned to compensate.

And when my body parts take a vacation,

I would love to give in and luxuriate!

However life has its own demands

And I choose to work despite the pain.

I do not want to give up too soon

For too quickly I’d then wain.

I’d rather do what I can do,

Perhaps differently than I did before,

Because in living there is great satisfaction

And I anticipate the joy in store.

So, although my body complains

I’ll take care to pamper my health,

And learn new ways to handle the losses

Because enjoying life, is my true wealth.

God, thank You for an absolutely amazing body.

Thank You too for giving us the wisdom we need to take care of our health.

GOOD NIGHT AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND GIVE YOU HEALTH