The Middle of Nowhere

Dad will soon be 86. My mother-in-law will soon be 89.

We recently got news that our son and wife are expecting our first grandchild.

Does that make me middle-aged?

I've been saying for several years that there no longer is such a thing as being middle-aged. No one will admit to it. I don't know, maybe it's just a baby boomer thing, purely generational. You're young, and still young, etc., and then one day you have to admit that you are old. We deny that we have ever been in the middle.

Now, if I really were to admit to middle-age, I'd have to reveal that I can no longer touch the basketball rim. I can't play tag with teens and ever catch anyone. There are times when an achy elbow or knee stays that way for more than a week. I forget names. A fifteen-minute nap after lunch brings more rejuvenation than guilt. I can no longer eat a whole sixteen-inch pizza by myself.

What is middle-age? It is a recognition that you are in the second half of life, and on the downslope. You can't really be "cool" anymore, but you can still be "okay", not yet to the point of being "nice." You don't have all the answers, that comes with wisdom, but you have the basics down pat. There are some clothes that will look silly on you, but you have entered the age of bright colors.

Okay, I accept it. I am a middle-aged man. But just barely. There's no reason why I shouldn't live to be 120, right?

But the main tenets of life have not changed. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." Those things are timeless.