Getting Old

As the day draws near, when I turn 50, I can’t help but think about the fact that I am getting old, or some might say, I am already old. I am not complaining. So far, I’ve had a good life with a great childhood and wonderful parents. I have been married to the most loving wife, and we raised a daughter that makes us very proud. I did not grow up in a rich family, but I had lots of brothers and sisters. We were always doing something in our house. Getting old has it’s advantages and disadvantages, but there is one thing that bothers me.

I grew up in a time when kids played outside until the street lights came on and then you had to go inside. It was the late 60’s when I was born. The Who, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix were are on 45’s. My elementary and middle school years were spent in the 70’s. The early part of the decade was spent jamming to Alice Cooper, Led Zepplin and Grand Funk Railroad on my AM transistor radio. With the emergence of FM radio stations, I rocked out to KISS, ZZ Top, and Aerosmith. Then came my high school and college years during the 80’s. Music Television was in it’s infancy, and I was rolling with AC/DC, Van Halen and Def Leppard on my Walkman.

I think most people realize they are getting older the first time a young kid calls them sir or mister. I coach wrestling at a high school. My awakening came when the athletes I coached were not even born until after I graduated high school. It was the 21st century when my hair started falling out. I can handle my receded hairline and even the unfortunate reality that hair now grows on my back and ears. I can even accept that my joints are not very stable, and if I do injure one, my recovery period is much longer. I am not as fast as I used to be and I can’t jump as high as when I used to touch the rim on a ten foot goal. I have to wear glasses, bifocals no less, so I can see where I am going and be able to read. However, we all have only two options. We are either getting old, or we are returning to earth as dust.

I don’t quite agree with Pete Townshend when he said, “I hope I die before I get old” but I think what bothers the most about getting old is that I find myself listening to soft rock, lite and easy listening radio stations with monikers like Magic, Sunny, and The River. I jammed to Rock ‘n Roll since I can remember and always had a “Live by my own rules and I don’t care what others think” attitude. The other day a Boston song came on Magic 106.7. I was flabbergasted because while I was in high school, we saw a anti-drug film accusing the band of promoting drug use for having the lyrics, “I wanna make you high” in the song “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”. We rocked and rolled as a form of rebellion, it was the music of the youth, we opposed the older generation, and now with the mainstream acceptance, it just ain’t right. I suppose I will go take an aspirin and play my Rolling Stones “Sticky Fingers” album. I just hope I don’t pull a muscle on my drum solo.