Tuesday, May 15, 2007

King of the road



I'm sad today as I got news that my Grandmother's health has taken a turn for the worse. My Aunt tells me that she no longer recognises anyone and basically her system is shutting down and she's on the way out.

I love this grandmother as she was the smartest of our family, most well read, and the most cheerful. She is in her nineties so I can accept her going but nevertheless I'm depressed that I can no longer communicate with her and that she is lingering without the quality of life that she's used to.

One of the things those of us that push ourselves physically can look forward to is that we will meet our end relatively quickly. Unfit people tend to die more slowly and painfully, you can't avoid suffering I reckon, either you suffer while getting fit or suffer with a more painful demise. I want to go out like a light and not linger with pain.

Anyway I'm going to post a song that always makes me feel good and hope we all continue to make the most of our lives as we don't have forever to live them that way.

Note to Ewen and 2P it's "King of the road" not "king of the trail."

10 comments:

  1. I recently went to a seminar about encouraging mature age people to stay in work longer. One of the speakers told us we were all living longer because of increases in technology and medicine. She said that we may as well use that extra 20 years in the middle of our lives rather than tacking it on to the end and spending the extra time just being old. I think that's a great idea - and it sounds like your grandmother has done just that!

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  2. Sorry to hear your sad news Scott. It is a very tough question that one, about whether it's better to burn out or fade away. I guess there isn't too much profit to be had by dwelling on it, but rather just live life to the best of our capabilities and let fate take care of the rest. That's probably a cop out though, one of the things I am pretty skillful at.

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  3. Sorry to hear about your Grandmother. I didn't know that about fit people dying quicker.

    I tried to download the article but it came out in code of some sort.

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  4. Thanks, RU

    I don't know what's happening with that article but if you still want it please email me and I'll send it as an attachment back to you.

    scott@byronenglish.net

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  5. My sympathies to you and your family Scott.

    I've had a similar situation with my Grandfather, who was the person that inspired me most in life, and who me into both science and running - two huge parts of my life! Since a very early age, I have enjoyed conversations with him on everything from dirty old jokes to quantum physics. I was ok with his declining mobility (because he’s had a good life), but it took me several months to even begin to reconcile it when his mind suddenly "went". He now doesn't even recognise me when I visit - hard for me, but harder for my mother.

    But, one consolation is that he is now mentally back in the late 1940's, early 1950's, a very happy period in his life!

    I suppose we just have to life life as best we can, and hope it ends as well as possible.

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  6. Sorry to hear about your Nan Scott - it sounds like she has had a very full life and the memories you have of her will last forever.

    Ahhh yes but when they wrote this song most roads were dirt! :-)

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  7. That's so sad, sorry to hear it. Tough times ahead for the family :(

    Makes me wonder where we will all be in 30 or 40 years time. Blogging (or whatever it will be called then) about doing reps in our zimmerframes perhaps :) It would be so cool if we are all still in touch in some way.

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  8. In 30 or 40 years the only way some of us will be able to "stay in touch" is through a ouija board!

    But nice thought Tesso.

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  9. Sorry to hear that Scott. She's had a good long life.

    How come they were driving down a 'trail' then? Love the accents. Whenever I hear that song, I want to visit Bangor, Maine!

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  10. In the end we are fragile creatures and I am starting to think that life is too damm short.

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