My Graceful Aging
By: Kelly McDonald . . .And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Dylan Thomas This morning, I gazed into the bathroom mirror, then suddenly recognized the old man who was staring back at me. Nothing unusual happened in the middle of the night. The evening before, I had googled the latest medical advances in overcoming aging, so surely those thoughts fueled this morning's sensitivity to my mortality. Like the 20th century’s war on cancer and heart disease, the next medical battle promises to help many of us live well into our 2nd century. I’ve been counting on that. So why am I feeling so old? If a long-life is probably my lot, why am I not becoming more comfortable with my geriatric future? As I have reflected on my past few de...
