October turned my maple leaves to gold
The most are gone now; here and there one lingers,
Soon they will slip from out the twig's weak hold,
Like coins between a dying miser's fingers.
----Thomas Baily Aldrich

This poem makes me think of mid-life. It's late in life. Our hair has changed from whatever color to grey. Some friends have died and gone, while others linger on. But soon, we shall all be leaving this earth as death takes over. Mid-life brings a lot of uncertainty, we tend to reminisce about the past. There's the physical signs of aging. For men, it may be baldness. For women its loss of menopause. For both sexes its loss of physical, vitality, and loss of sexuality.

When we are young we never think of getting sick or getting old. When we reach our 40's and 50's, we begin to look back and wonder where all the time went. We contemplate the "should have beens" and "could have beens" and may have regrets.

Mid-life is a good time to take physical, mental, and spiritual examinations. There is no denying that we live in a society that embraces youth. We are quick to make jokes about "little old ladies" and "dirty old men." We spend billions of dollars trying to preserve ourselves with creams, diet, exercise and  surgery.

We hope to live to a ripe old age, but when aging brings loss of memory, diseases and impairments, the thought of growing old makes us fearful.

And the realization that there's nothing that we can do to stop the process.

Most of the elderly are not so much afraid of dying as the conditions of their dying. We need to clarify communications with the doctor and our children. Make a living will. This gives specific directions as to how you want your health to be managed. Put your affairs in order while you are coherent. If you have possessions to leave behind, make sure everyone understands how things are to be divided. A will should be clearly stated and will lessen any mental, emotional, and physical difficulties that should occur.

As we get older, we either get kinder or crankier. Strive for love and compassion for all living things. Practice tolerance and forgiveness. Use your energy to contribute to your self and to

others.

When we are young, we take life for granted. We don't realize how precious life is. It goes by so fast. Then, when we're old, we wonder where life went. When you are 20, 80 seems so far in the future. When you are 80, it seems such a short time when we were 20. And - we realize just how short time really is (too late).

One of the worst parts of getting older is losing our independence. Feeling that we may end up in a nursing home with other people making decisions for us. We shouldn't have to feel ashamed because we have to depend on others to help us. Age leaves us with ourselves and our memories. We remember what we used to look like and what we were capable of doing.
Here's what the Bible says about the aged:

"That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers of the home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
---- K J V Titus 2:2-5.

We should embrace the elderly for their knowledge and years of experience instead, they are sometimes lumped together as people who has nothing to contribute to society anymore. But, should we stop and ponder there are many extremely productive and creative people in their 70's, 80's and even 90's. Also, remember, If we should live long enough, one of these days, we too will be old. Then we will have our memories. But, keep in mind, our souls are timeless. The physical body is merely a shell that we will discard on the road to the glorious eternity.