Candles Can Bring Illumination

By the time my day comes around again to blog in this spot I'll have passed the point where I turn 86. It's not a particularly significant anniversary, like 75 or 100, but the year leading up to it has made me wonder about this condition called aging. I have a brother two years older who has complained for years that he started falling apart when he reached 80.

At my annual physicals, the doctor always plunks his stethoscope here and there, thumps around on my knees and elbows, and says I don't see anything wrong with you. The lab lady drains a bunch of test tubes full of blood, and the results show I'm normal.

But this year I've begun to wonder. My ophthalmologist diagnosed me with AMD in my right eye, Age-related Macular Degeneration, a few years ago. She put me on some high-powered vitamin pills, and I've had no problem since. Except for cataracts. I don't see well driving at night. Now she has me scheduled for cataract surgery. But she says I might get back to where I don't need glasses to read. Maybe no more bifocals.

Then there's my mouth. Early in the summer, I had my four lower front teeth pulled and a bridge put in. Of course, I had the same thing done with the upper four when I was a teenager, so that's no big deal.

I walk two miles most days at the mall. Whenever I get a pain in a knee or a twinge in a hip, I think about all my acquaintances who've had knee or hip replacements. But it hasn't slowed my 15-minute-per-mile pace, so I don't worry about it.

I guess as long as my musty old brain can continue creating mysteries I shouldn't complain. And I have lots of them stirring around waiting for my fingers to get them on paper. Speaking of fingers...

Chester Campbell
Visit me at Mystery Mania