Your Concierge Physician Shares The Wisdom of an 86 Year Old

August 15, 2018

My favorite 86 year old wrote this about growing old:

I am grateful that I am growing old. It is a privilege that many have been denied.  Awareness of this mercy gives fresh wonder to every day. I am thankful for the joys I now can grasp because age has pried my fingers loose from trivial things– for simpler life, for swallows skimming over sunlit meadows, for unhurried moments to nourish faith on thoughts of past mercies, for sacred instants when all things that once seemed disjointed, fall into place and the sad things of earth are swallowed up to holy joy.

I am aware of the beauties of life’s autumn, a time of fulfillment and harvest,  May age be seen as  part of the design for the world and for us, so that the years may rest less as a burden and more like a benediction.  Spare us from self pity that shrivels the soul. Though our wrinkles multiply and bodies tire, may there be no withering of our spirit.  May every day witness some rebirth of beauty, some eager exploration of a new unspoiled hour. If appetite for food should fade, may our eyes still savor tenderness in others, consume the dawn, feast on starlight.   Though our money may be limited, let us be spendthrifts with love.  And grant us some moments living on tip toes, just beyond the hills of time.


As your concierge doctor I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions. I hope we all can age with such wisdom and gratitude.