Butch Says Old Age Holds Enduring Memories

   My high school class of 1966 lost two more members this year. Sadly, out of 34 graduates, nine are now deceased, and four others have serious health issues. Seven of my fellow officers on the Sheriff’s department have also passed away. It certainly makes a person stop and think about their own mortality. At age 76, I seem to be in good health. I eat right and get plenty of exercise, and fortunately I gave up smoking 28 years ago. When I researched the Dale family history, I discovered that the average age of death for a male member was 86. However, my father passed away when he was only 61. My mother had a debilitating stroke at age 74 and passed away four years later. None of Mom’s six siblings made it to age 80. My goal is to remain physically and mentally active, continue to work, and reach the century mark in 2048. But as an injury attorney TV commercial states, “Things happen.” I could kick the proverbial bucket tomorrow.

If you fellow baby-boomers are like me, I still plan things for the future. However, I often find myself dwelling on the past more than I once did. It is fun to look back on our childhood days when even simple things brought happiness. I like to recall those treasured moments with family, friends and classmates. We were innocent and naive during those happy years. Yes, there were disappointments, failures, lost loves, and tragedies, too, but we gained strength from those and went on to live and work and play…and remain faithful and optimistic as the years passed by. Like many of you, I often yearn for those past days…

    “Down the lanes of boyhood, where innocence abounds, A medley of colors, a revelry of sounds, Where hearts are never broken and wrong is never known, Where sorrow never enters and no one weeps alone. And yet we never can return when once we’ve journeyed on; Old age is ever wishing for the joys forever gone.” (Edgar Guest)

   I now find myself again taking more notice of the simple things in life…the birds, the flowers, the clouds, the moon, the innocence and eager eyes of a young child. I go on long quiet walks. I pet my faithful little dog more often. When I was a police officer and sheriff, I witnessed many senseless tragedies, injuries, deaths and suffering. I was present at accident scenes when people took their last breath. At times I had to search for and gather up body parts. I was in a few dangerous situations in which I thought that I might not make it out alive. And the worst job that I had was delivering death messages to families who had lost a loved one. I had to do that many times. Those types of things had an effect on me. When I returned home from my night shift after those incidents, it made me appreciate my family and all of the good things in life even more. Now, when I hear of another friend’s passing, I mourn their loss, but I also remember the good times that we spent together.

   William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was an English poet who wrote “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” which refers to the innocence of childhood wonder. He believed that we shouldn’t be sad about our lost childhood and the loss of friends and family, but rather gain strength from those memories. Here is a passage from his poem…

                                           Splendour in the Grass

    “What though the radiance which was once so bright, Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour, Of splendour in the grass, Of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find, Strength in what remains behind; In the primal sympathy which having been must ever be; In the soothing thoughts that spring out of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death, In years that bring the philosophic mind.”

   Our minds hold thousands of memories, both good and bad. We realize that change…and death…is inevitable. I appreciate the present moments and the simple things in my life. How about you?

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.