\n<\/span>It’s mourning in America.
\n<\/span>A pestilence\u00a0 is upon us.
\n<\/span>What on Earth could be worse?
\n<\/span>Then I did a crumple-fall and broke the femur in my left leg, my only weight-bearing leg.<\/span><\/p>\n
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!<\/b><\/p>\n
Four weeks later after a trip to the ER, surgery, rehab, infection, back to the hospital, and, with Charlie’s magic, I was, finally, home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n MERRY CHRISTMAS!<\/b><\/p>\n Now, with Women\u2019s History Month celebrated, I beat another infection, and, except for having \u2018sore butt syndrome\u2019 {indelicate, maybe, but accurate}, which is just a wheelchair hazard, I am back to full-talking mode.\u00a0 Charlie sighs.<\/span><\/p>\n GOOD NEWS<\/b> is that\u00a0 My femur is making new bone, and I am turtle-ing my way to standing again.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Lots of nails for maximum pity, and new, white-ish bone to heal.\u00a0 Wiped out. NAPS ALERT!<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n UPDATE:<\/b><\/p>\n You may recall that Charlie declared I should write my own obituary because I complained so much about the recent obituaries of friends. The challenge, as I see it, is to find my \u201cthere, there.\u201d\u00a0 This is not an easy task.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My obituary efforts are turning into my \u201clast leaf\u201d (Remember O. Henry’s short story?),\u00a0 and so far, they\u2019re working, but still wanting.\u00a0 I want to be more than death certificate data or an algorithmic-driven resume.\u00a0 I want there to be\u00a0 \u201cthere there\u201d in my obituary. (Remember Gertrude Stein\u2019s describing Oakland CA as \u201chaving no there there\u201d?\u00a0 Only one of my \u2018asked\u2019 friends knew what I was talking about.)\u00a0 This is hard to capture.\u00a0 Fortunately, Wislawa Szymborska has sort of addressed the \u201cthere there\u201d problem in her poem, \u201cWriting\u00a0 a Resume.<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Writing a R\u00e9sum\u00e9 <\/b>by Wislawa Szymborska\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n What needs to be done? GOOD NEWS!<\/b> If writing my own obituary is my \u2018last leaf\u2019, as I suspect it is, so far so good.\u00a0 Updates will be part of coming posts, I hope, I hope.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014————————————————————————————————<\/span><\/p>\n THOUGHTS:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/b>I may be a super-ager.<\/strong><\/p>\n In several studies<\/a>, super-agers were people who were at least 80 years old, [CHECK!] had the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger, [FRIENDS SAY I DO!] and, \u201cyou could see, were energetic, motivated [AMBITIOUS, maybe?], on the ball, elderly individuals.\u201d [YOU BET!] Though they shared few lifestyle choices, \u201cone consistency among the group was that they tended to have strong<\/span> social relationships<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 These are tricky to define. \u00a0 I am not a \u2018joiner\u2019, except for Gary\u2019s Poetry Club, which is a wild and wooly bunch of appreciators, but I love good conversation, and, clearly, good conversation is a kind of social relationship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The question is: what is \u201cgood conversation”<\/strong>?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Start with at least two people who enjoy talking to each other, are widely read, have options, opinions, a sense of humor, good nature, and a tolerable perspective, and who can argue ably and amiably. \u00a0 Some common interests help, as do library visits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A good conversationalist, then, is an autodidact {super self-learner}, probable library user, and adapter (wise choice maker), all of which lead to super-aging.\u00a0 \u201cPicky, picky,\u201d you say?\u00a0 Not in my world.\u00a0 Good conversation<\/span> is the thread running through the many varied and memorable activities of my life.\u00a0 Maybe I could sum up my life experiences with the adjustable line, \u201cShe was part of and loved good conversations with friends, who put up with her, <\/span>everywhere she landed.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s\u00a0hard to capture the spontaneity of a good conversation, but I have found three poems which in their several ways try to do that. Ron Padgett\u2019s \u201cTaboo\u201d, John Kenney\u2019s \u201cAn Attempt<\/strong><\/span> at a summation of a five-year-old\u2019s monologue\u201d,\u00a0 and \u201cChanneling my sister, Charyl Coghlan Pollard<\/strong>, while reading the poem, \u201cPossibilties\u201d by Wislawa Szymborska\u201d<\/strong>, the poem I \u201cput together\u201d for my sister\u2019s memorial service. They are too much to type, so I\u2019m working on a way to recite them.<\/span><\/p>\n COMING ATTRACTIONS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Spring brings Ann’s blossoms, a joy to behold and ZEN- think ‘one with my hat’.<\/p><\/div>\n Kids who get to go to the library by themselves and choose any books they want are an advantaged lot.<\/strong> I am one of them. I\u2019m working on why this is so, but learning how to make wise, or at least reasoned, choices is part of it.<\/p>\n A difference between a generalist and a scatterbrain<\/strong> is how you recall, sort, and connect unsupervised early-life library choices with later life or reading experiences.\u00a0 Hint: Nikki Giovanni\u2019s poem, \u201dIn Praise of my Teacher,\u201d matters.<\/p>\n ………………………………………………………………………………..<\/p>\n That’s it.\u00a0 More coming sooner, rather than later.\u00a0 Hard to do anything but think, when your wheelchair-bound feet are in the air to\u00a0 put sore butt’s pressure on the back.\u00a0 Nothing like talking to yourself (thinking?) when your son is only half-Irish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UPDATE: As of November 6th, I had this post already started. It’s mourning in America. A pestilence\u00a0 is upon us. What on Earth could be worse? Then I did a crumple-fall and broke the femur in my left leg, my … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3month_leg_xray-371x480.jpg\")
\n<\/span>Fill out the application and enclose the r\u00e9sum\u00e9.
\n<\/span>Regardless of the length of life,
\n<\/span>a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is best kept short.
\n<\/span>Concise, well-chosen facts are de rigueur.
\n<\/span>Landscapes are replaced by addresses,
\n<\/span>shaky memories give way to unshakable dates.
\n<\/span>Of all your loves, mention only the marriage;
\n<\/span>of all your children, only those who were born.
\n<\/span>Who knows you matters more than whom you know.
\n<\/span>Trips only if taken abroad.
\n<\/span>Memberships in what but without why.
\n<\/span>Honors, but not how they were earned.
\n<\/span>Write as if you\u2019d never talked to yourself and always kept yourself at arm\u2019s length.
\n<\/span>Pass over in silence your dogs, cats, birds, dusty keepsakes, friends, and dreams.
\n<\/span>Price, not worth, and title, not what\u2019s inside.
\n<\/span>His shoe size, not where he\u2019s off to,
\n<\/span>that one you pass off as yourself.
\n<\/span>In addition, a photograph with one ear showing.
\n<\/span>What matters is its shape, not what it hears.
\n<\/span>What is there to hear, anyway?\u00a0 The clatter of paper shredders.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PXL_20250325_204411651-1024x768.jpg\")