Royce Shook

3 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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A winters friend by Lou Waterbeach - MyLifeMyPastMyFuture

A winters friend by Lou Waterbeach - MyLifeMyPastMyFuture

This is just a beautifully written piece and so true. Take a couple of minutes to read it. You'll be glad you did. :D

A WINTER FRIEND by Lou Waterbeach- MyLifeMyPastMyFuture

This article is so befitting for all of us... take time to ponder... the last statement cannot be refuted:-

I STARTED READING THIS QUITE FAST UNTIL I REACHED THE THIRD SENTENCE. I STOPPED THEN AND STARTED OVER, READING SLOWER, AND THINKING ABOUT EVERY WORD... IT REALLY DOES MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK, NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE.

So, please READ SLOWLY!

AND THEN IT IS WINTER

You know time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those years went.

I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is... the winter of my life, and it catches me by surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those "older people" were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey... they move slower and I see an older person in myself now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me... but, I see the great change... Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so... now I enter this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last... this I know, that when it's over on this earth... it's over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done... things I should have done, but indeed, there are also many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life... so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.. and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!

"Life" is a GIFT to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

Remember: "It is Health that is real Wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."

~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!

~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!

~You forget names... but it's OK, because other people forgot they even knew you!!!

~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything.... especially golf.

~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.

~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep."

~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..

~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"...???

~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.

~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless?!"

~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

~Everybody whispers.

~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.

~But "Old" is good in some things:

Old Songs, Old movies ...

and best of all, our dear ...OLD FRIENDS!!

Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!"

Share with your 'OLD FRIENDS'!

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Comments

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #6

#5
Royce Shook My share of your post on LI was very well received https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6724731984037457920/ I think you will enjoy this poetry Royce ... especially the conclusion - for it ties in with this post "Searching for pearls among rings" https://www.bebee.com/producer/@fay-vietmeier-pennsylvania/searching-for-pearls-among-rings

Royce Shook

3 years ago #5

Fay, thank you for the wonderful poetry. I enjoyed reading it.

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #4

Royce Shook I loved this so much Royce ;~) Multiplied thanks for sharing it. ... it is poignant and contains wisdom for those in the Winter season of life Shared on beBee twice & on LI It reminds me of a devotional writing in Streams in the Desert (which contains the poem "Flying to a Summer Land" https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/streams-in-the-desert-october-21st.html In some future time ;~) I'd like to combine both into a post with poetry ... And that snippet from Sandy Griswold is also beautiful.

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #3

The little birds trust God, for they go singing From northern woods where autumn winds have blown, With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown. Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing: Since we are sure our times are in His hand, Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying? 'Tis only flitting to a Summer-land. “In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity, In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory, Unrevealed until its season, Something God alone can see.” ~ Hymn of promise "The time will come when temporal shall cease. This time revolving wheel shall rest in peace: No summer then shall glow, nor winter freeze; Everything shall be to come … all that’s past is past, A new age … an eternal now shall ever last." ~ Petrarch "Time Decides" https://www.bebee.com/producer/@fay-vietmeier-pennsylvania/time-decides

Royce Shook

3 years ago #2

John, it would be nice to bask in the haze of the old wives summer (the original name) but winter does come upon us, albeit slowly. Here is a description of the phenomena written by Sandy Griswold for the Omaha Sunday World-Herald in November 1922: "I am enabled to say, however, that the characteristics of the season, when it appears in all its glory, are a mild and genial temperature, gentle southwestern breezes, unusual brightness of the sun, extreme brilliancy of the moon, a clear, blue sky; sometimes half-hidden by a veil of gray haze; daybreaks redder than the splotch on the blackbird’s wing, and sunsets laden with golden fleeces, the wooded valleys aglow with the fires of richly tinted leaves, still clinging to the listless limbs, or lying where they have fallen…."

John Rylance

3 years ago #1

Reading this I feel I have no wish to reach this Winter as protrayed in this piece. I intend as now basking in an Indian Summer. Give me warmth with health and wealth everytime. There are times when like the song from Starlight Express I'm happiest when living in the past. Now where are those roller skates?

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