Katharine Osborne column: I'm getting D's and F's in School of Life for the Aging
By Katharine Osborne
For The Salisbury Post
In the School of Life for the Aging, I’m beginning to question what grades I could make. No A’s or B’s, just D’s or F’s.
As an example, in an attempt to recover from a very bad day, I will confess my actions, expose my shortcomings, and relate my frustrations.
One recent Sunday, I dressed in a favorite outfit to wear to church. After breakfast, I was scurrying around, trying to organize one small part of my life. Even though I wasn’t watching it, the TV was on with my favorite Sunday show, Sunday Morning. I thought I had been checking the time until I heard the show sign off and realized that my church was starting and I would be about 15 minutes late if I left then. I just couldn’t walk in that late. This was the first blow of the day to my ego.
Since I now had some spare time, I decided I would finish paying the bills that I had started paying on Saturday. I opened my checkbook and there was a check I had written on Saturday that should have been included in the return envelope. I had been so upset over the new style bill that was almost impossible to read that I had written a scathing letter requesting another type bill. The main problems with the bill were that the print was so small and every other line was darkened. For old eyes this is a very disturbing combination. So in my haste to complain, I forgot to include my check, and the mailman picked up my complaining missive Saturday afternoon. What a horrible blow to my sense of keeping perfect records.
The third disheartening event of the day was revealed when I took the Sunday papers I had read out to the blue recycle box. I noticed my car had not been inspected in September as it should have been. On top of the usual happenings such as “Where did I put that object?” or “Why did I come into this room?” three major failures in one day were deadly blows.
Monday morning, bright and early I took my payment check to the Bank of America and it was credited to my Visa bill. I then went to have my car inspected. Well, here was a most unusual happening. The computer in the car would not allow the inspection because it had not been driven enough recently. A trip to Charlotte three days later added the needed mileage and I was once again legal.
Living — yes, just living — and learning to adjust to new circumstances are two main ingredients in the process of aging. Acceptance of our frailties and blunders is essential to a happy life. So I give thanks that sometimes I can recognize my mistakes and trust I can continue to make some attempt to correct them.
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