Most people have at one time owned a spring wound toy.  Wind it up and the stored energy in the spring provides the power of movement.  How long depends on many factors such as among others, spring strength and coil/tension efficacy.  Such factors determine the duration of the spring operated movement.  It’s a little like life ever slowly and inevitably unwinding.  This thought came to mind as I write this column.
Most of the people I know and with whom I (born 1928) ordinarily associate are my contemporaries generally.  And because of this, the kinds of people I visit mostly have experienced as many or more birthdays as I have.  In fact I would probably be lost if I were to find myself in the company of today’s high school generation although I spent most of my life in such a society, but things have changed exponentially today as the saying goes.
My long time friend is 96 years old and lives independently, in itself somewhat of a miracle.  She takes care of the household duties and shares living quarters with a long time friend/companion – her cat.  She is generally well informed although because of her eye problems she can no longer read printed materials and can only hear the television commentary.  But she has visitors and I am one of the fortunate ones.
She has a superb sense of humor.  Once I said to her when I arrived for my visit that I saw man running out the back door to which she replied, “I had hoped no one would have noticed.” Great repartee.  But there is a serious tone in some of our talks. Since she is nearing the century mark, some of the topics we discuss would be for adults only meaning final departure/winding down.
Although she lives in a semi world of darkness, she is not despondent even though age has claimed many of the joys of her earlier life.  Unmarried, still she has memories of strong family connections along with her love for the church.  She still maintains a relationship with the institution whose members are thoughtful and faithful to pay her regular visits, to provide her with bulletins (read to her) and to add comments about its activities and news about its members.
She is a realist and knows that time is not on her side, that the expiration date is drawing near, so this has caused her to reflect on this eventuality.  Yes, she has   made plans so that her she will have the final say regarding the final farewell.  Yes, she knows about the legal necessities, the medical documentation for permitted care and of course conversations with the provider of her last motor trip. She has had ample opportunity to give serious thought to these details so that, as she says, her departure will not cause too much inconvenience to her loved ones.
Like the spring powered toy, life too at last loses momentum but in her case not without the firmly held belief that death is the REAL beginning of eternal life.
Save me a seat.
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Bill Lee, PO Box 128,
Hamer, SC 29547