A young man dressed in a suit and tie with a briefcase attached loosely to his non-arthritic right-hand hustles to work.
A young mother, frantic, with two kids in the back seat, takes a deep breath and pulls her vehicle into the drop-off lane at the elementary school.
The young farmer hops on his tractor and prepares for a day in the field… acres of tall corn waiting to be cut down.
The young professional baseball player edges forward to the dugout's top step. The hot-hitting lefty has a 10-game hitting streak in jeopardy. He must wallop a hanging curveball to right field in his next at-bat.
All the above will complete their day, return home, and await the sun to set on another fruitful day. They assume tomorrow will come soon enough, and the sun will rise again.
The younger we are, the better off we are, as our minds are uncluttered without the worry of the age limit sign ahead.
Now take a gander at the senior citizen crossing the street, the man or woman feeding the pigeons at the local park, the vulnerable adults at the care center sliding their motorized wheelchair to the dinner table, just enough to settle in comfortably and converse with their fellow neighbors.
Will they be up at dawn, motor down, and meet that special neighbor for breakfast? Or if mobile, will they feed the hungry pigeons again and visit the local cafe, grab an outside table, have a glass of tea, and watch the young people scurry around?
Many of them are lost in their thoughts, but some will look up and smile…and maybe even greet the young passerby…the one heading somewhere.
Some fifty or sixty years ago, there was a time when they, too, had the wind at their back and were dashing off somewhere.
Oh, what a time it was.
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