Growing old

Yesterday evening we went for a birthday party, of an 81 year old gentleman. His daughter is my wife's boss. We reached by around 7 30 pm after getting lost on the way.The community hall where it was being held was packed. There were some 300 people in small hall.The old man and his wife were on the stage, with him sitting on a chair and his wife standing behind. He had a small jasmine garland around his neck and looked lean but fighting fit. In fact both of them looked fit and healthy. Frankly I was taken aback to see how fit, cheerful and mentally alert he was. 

Their children and grandchildren had made a big flex banner which was the backdrop to the stage. The banner was a collage of photos from their lives, some black and white snaps as well where he was posing like the old movie idol Sathyan, curly haired look et all. The hordes of people there were standing in line to take pictures with them.

I was thinking about how we would be if we were lucky or unlucky to live as long as this couple has. 

Will we be healthy and happy or would we turn cranky and sick all the time.? Would my choices and behaviour while growing old give me new relationships or kill the ones I already had?  Would I be lucky to grow older with my wife or would only one of us survive, in which case there wouldn't be much to celebrate, would there? Would my kids be doing OK in life or would I be still worried about their future? 

And... would we still have our memory intact to know where we are in life? Hell, I remember my first crush in LKG - a Gujarathi girl called Jugnu who used to come in the same cycle-rickshaw as me for LKG classes. If I couldn't remember any of the interesting things in life, would I really want to live long even if I were healthy? If my wife or kids or grandkids were sick, would I want to live long to see it? And... finally when I died, would I have done anything worth remembering, or would I be like another old man photograph on the wall of a house? Apart from my immediate family and my closest friends, would I leave behind anything enduring besides memories? 

There's a joke I read a long time ago about 3 old men discussing how they would prefer to die, the youngest a 70 year old says I would like to die in a car crash driving a Ferrari or Porche, in a blaze of glory. The second old man an 80 year old says I would like to die in a plane crash - quick. The third old man, the oldest at 90 years says I prefer a better way - I would like to be shot dead by a jealous husband.

I would like to be the last Oldman, living life to the fullest till the end.