The Downside of Retirement

    After over five years of retirement, I’ve come to the conclusion that being retired is truly great, but it’s too bad that it has to come with all the side effects of old age.  I bruise more easily, have more difficulty seeing though I just got new glasses, even my teeth seem to bother me more (my dentist put a crown on one just a couple weeks ago).

      And it’s mental too.  I only have five grandchildren but just ONCE I’d like to call one by the right name.  I don’t remember ever having problems calling people by their correct names when I was working.

     And that’s just one symptom of my fractured memory as I call it.  It’s like there’s a break in my consciousness when I’m trying to recall something that a few seconds ago was so clearly there.  And now it’s so clearly gone when I try to recall what it was.

     So many times I’ve gone upstairs or downstairs to fetch something, but once I’m there I get distracted by something else—distractions are the bane of a fractured memory—and then I return without what I originally went upstairs or downstairs for.  That especially frustrates my wife who often makes those fetching requests of me since her knee has sapped her mobility, another side effect of old age.

    Though my ambulating joints function fine right now, I’ve been troubled by an aching shoulder the past several weeks.  It seemed to start the day we watched my youngest grandson Owen who insisted on being carried downstairs from his nap.  He’s over two and a half now and capable of getting downstairs on his own but I spoil him.

     Except that a few weeks ago I stumbled on the last step while carrying him downstairs and toppled over.  Owen bumped his head on a door going down but I got it worse, landing on both knees then falling over, wrenching my shoulder.  I still wonder today if I should have it x-rayed.
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     When Owen’s dad picked him up, Owen told his dad he got a little boo boo on his head, then angrily looked at me and said, “Grandpa did it!”

      *sigh*

     Now, since it’s summer, we watch Owen’s two older brothers along with the little guy on occasion.  This past week we took them to an indoor water park.  I was just happy to wade around, watching the kids play but they grandboys insisted I join them going down the waterslide.  It’s not the biggest, but it did look rather fast.  Since I wasn’t feeling particularly restricted by any aches or pains, I took the plunge, pun intended.

     Somewhere along the way down, I felt a twinge of pain.  Now my shoulder is bothering me again.  Maybe that’s what happens when you try things thinking you’re younger than your body knows you are.  If it forces me eventually to see the doctor I’m going to flat out tell him, “The grandkids did it!”