The song “bookends” was one of the songs on Simon and Garfunkel’s
fourth studio album, which was also titled Bookends. It was released on March
8, 1968. At the time of its release, both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were 26
years old. Today, they are both 75 years old, and have considerably less hair
than they did in 1968.
I have always loved the song, so I would recommend listening to an
original recording of it once again:
When the song was released, I was in my junior year of college,
and 70 seemed to be an impossibly old age. Even my dad, and most of his
siblings, still had not reached the milestone year of 70 in 1968.
Now, here’s the hard part.
On August 28, I will become 70 years old, an age that I once
thought would put me comfortably into my retirement years, but life doesn’t
always work out the way that you planned.
Although I have retired 4 times already, that idyllic state just
hasn’t managed to stick. However, that it is also true of a LOT of the musical
performers that we grew up with. Simon and Garfunkel are still performing, but
so is Roger Waters, Mick Jagger, Arlo Guthrie, and Charlie Daniels. Graham
Nash, age 75, was in Philadelphia just last weekend. Even Tony Bennett is still
performing, and he is NINETY, for heaven’s sake.
Now that I am actually 70, it no longer feels strange, especially in
view of the fact that several of my friends and acquaintances have already died
of NATURAL CAUSES.
My YOUNGER sister just retired after 45 years of nursing, and is
enjoying her time off immensely. In the short time that she has been retired,
she has managed to have a meal at Brennan’s in New Orleans, enjoyed a
meditation weekend in northern California, and had a slice at Mystic Pizza in
Connecticut. Not a bad way to spend your retirement years!
As for me, I will likely work for another year or two (unless my
Powerball ticket pays off). If that doesn’t happen, though, I still plan to
live life to its fullest, and I am not planning on “checking out” any time in
the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment