When does a man feel old?. What are the signs?

Each day, I wake and tell myself, ” it is a good day! ” and then seeing the world around me changing brings me to the conclusion that maybe I have become the definition of being Old.

I grew up in a rural ranching area of Texas during the transitional 60s -70s era. Sometimes I thought that the world had turned 20 times before it had reached us. Together, my brothers and sister and I rode horses back and forth to school while my friends dreamt of mustang fastbacks and chevy Vegas cars and trucks. For us, looking after your daily chores and stock, taking care to mind your elders was the order of the day, seem more important than worrying about who was wearing what, from where. I could go on but, I believe I have made my point.

Transitioning from 1975 to 2021 has not been an easy road. My entrance into college served to enlighten me to many things, as did my military service, and everyday life experiences. My everyday experiences dealing with wonderful people on a daily basis helped me to better understand myself and the core values that my parent and Grandparents had taught us during my younger years. A handshake had meaning, a promise made was meant to be held and Love was never to be forsaken. Virtue and morality had more value than any printed paper. Yet the opposite seems to be the case these days.

I learned in the course of my military training a concept called loyalty. Because I was trained to serve in small elite groups, loyalty to the man next to you could mean the difference between survival or demise. Transition this to everyday life, for me this means friends are much more than just people you might casually meet. I find it hard to understand the news reports showing people my age and sometimes older, do not hold even the simple moral that telling a lie, an untruth is still a lie. And our younger generation sees this with ease. How can our younger generation respect us, believe in us, while seeing such things? Is this a sign that we, our generation truly are old to the definition?

My degree is in Engineering. I see things in a very technical physical way. I believe in scientific proofing, testing, and analytical reason mixed in with human feeling and using common sense. This has served me well in 65 years, until now.

All said. I will always believe in human feelings, common sense, and the love of a good woman. But the questions still remain in my head.

Sorry for the rambles…