Plans for a Happy Old Age
On the Road to Aging
In the car, stuck in heavy traffic, the kids and I had an interesting discussion about special powers and old age. Maria stated that her power is “the power of the future” — the ability to predict future events.
She explained how she “predicted” that we would be listening to my favorite song in the car on that rainy day, seeing this as proof of her powers.
But I explained to him that it may be more about our known habits, which give him a sense of familiarity and ease in “predicting” the next events. However, she insisted that she did have precognitive powers.
The conversation then drifted to topics related to old age — how we would manage then, whether we would have to take care of each other or be admitted to the asylum.
Adrian asked if we would have to take care of our mother then, serving her with the spoon at the table and helping her with her hygiene, just as they saw we took care of our grandparents.
I explained that I would probably be admitted to a nursing home where specially trained people would work and they would be able to visit and bring me gifts such as fruit and books.
But Maria vehemently rejected this idea, stating with conviction that, thanks to the “power of the future,” she knew we’d all be living together in a big house, with me just a little more tired and white-haired, but still independent.
Although Adrian will have children, she has decided that she will never have children of her own.
I tried to explain that things might turn out differently than her predictions, but Maria insisted that her powers were never wrong.
In the end, we decided to listen to my favorite song again and enjoy the moment, leaving thoughts of old age for another time.
Although I was worried about what the future would look like in old age, I accepted the idea that “we will live and see”! Thank you for reading!
