Probing the Histories That Lie Beneath...

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:          Probing the Histories That Lie Beneath... 

I was thinking just the other day...   and, yes, I do think occasionally despite my standing as a geezer of an "historic" age (according to a brilliant contributor!)...     I should perhaps explain.   Many of us have reached an age that should, in the young, I think, prompt wonder, respect and a desire to ask questions, seek answers, probe for history, lest the opportunity is lost forever in the blurred mists of passing time!

I regret I did not ask my grandparents and parents more about their pasts, their own

We / They are not as old as
those fine features on 
the Acropolis in Athens!
Truly, We / they aren't!!  It's
merely symbolic...

histories....   Other relatives and friends too, parents' friends...  I'm guessing many of my contemporaries harbor the same regret.  Shucks, Alas and Drat!  Too late now for too many of us...

SweetHeart and I, some years ago, became "Chief Volunteers" (or Volunteer Coordinators) at a school for seniors, along with installations upon -- having been unanimously asked and appointed to -- its Board of Directors, a dual honor or sorts.  (Again, one of those profound distinctions after it having been determined that we were indeed still breathing!)  

As we've grown into our roles and the comfort levels that come with longevity, we've been privileged to meet a number of extraordinary and talented fellow members and volunteers of "historic" standing!  

Here's the revelation that materializes in the mind as realization dawns like a rising sun on a summer's day:   People in their 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and centenarian status as well, have histories, remarkable ones!  They were not born in the senior portions of their lives.  They have history, some if not most of it fascinating stuff!

One need merely probe a bit, ask questions, ask them about themselves....   Mind telling us your life story!  Start at the very beginning...!

Where they've been, what PATHS they've taken, where they come from, ancestral homes and homelands, what schools they attended and what professions or career paths they pursued prior to appearing somewhat different -- you know, grey or white-haired, faces and necks lined, hands and arms spotted and creased, road maps of achievement. 

 Like great, glorious and enduring symbols of antiquity.  Astounding!  It's true...    People have history, and they travel along interesting pathways throughout their lives...  Explore those pathways and discover...

In conversation with one of our school for seniors colleagues, those of us listening were delighted and fascinated to learn that he was a lawyer, in fact a patent attorney.  He spent time in the U.S. Army, in Berlin, Germany and other stations during his military service.  He's in his 90s.  And  he was a championship swimmer, having placed 7th in the entire U.S. collegiate swim team population!  He has a helluva history!

On the same board and among our friends, both new and of long standing, we have a past school principal and administrator, a former star reporter and editor, a professor emeritus of anthropology, a former and highly successful business founder and owner...

One of those historic personalities continues to play competitive tennis, another competitive softball.  A few of us played highly competitive volleyball for more than 40 years, well into the venerable 70s.  I mean, all of that background, that history, is quite amazing.  You'd be wrong, and maybe a bit addle-brained if you don't agree!!  Take the time to think and to inquire...  And, you'd make the objects of your inquiries very happy!  That alone is a gift, a significant and generous gift.     

One wonders how many young people would look at those individuals who have achieved "senior status" and register only their obvious ages, never bothering to look deeper or inquire about their lives, accomplishments and experiences.   Seek sit-down meetings and long conversations!  You know, "Tell me about your life...  Leave nothing out...  well, that is, almost nothing!"

And if there isn't enough self gratification in initiating a fine conversation with wonderful older adults, wouldn't it be a great way to "break ice."  An even greater means of making a friend, ingratiating oneself to a person with whom you might just build a friendship, a confidant, someone with whom you might start a valuable network!  

 THANK YOU!   Tune in again for fascinating reading, superb ideas and scintillating conversation, meaning of course sort of written conversation... 

However, I am available should readers wish to have an actual, verbal conversation.  Wouldn't that be swell!!??  

Humbly Submitted 05-09-2026, by Joel K.

  

     

  

"The Nomination is the Award!..." (subtitle) The Curse of Ageism, and What Geezers Face when Discarded, Ignored and Diminished by Society!

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:          "The Nomination is the Award!..." 

                       (subtitle) 

                       The Curse of Ageism, and What Geezers Face

                       when Discarded, Ignored and Diminished by Society!

Can't readily recall where I originally heard the expression, the one used as the main title of this posting.  It seems apt, however, for those who did not have the great honor of rising, somewhat stunned, walking up to the awards presentation stage to be handed the top prize...    but who, nonetheless, were so honored by their peers, one of a just a chosen few...  not blessed with ultimate victory, perhaps, but at least...   nominated, even though steeped in GeezerHood, considered to be out of date, obsolete!

The new book that I was privileged to write and have published is entitled, Making a U-Turn in the Gig Economy.  SweetHeart helped a great deal by contributing excellent topic ideas and editing skill.  Our wonderful granddaughter, Lucy, created all but one of the gorgeous, cartoon-like illustrations.  Younger granddaughter, PhiPhi, drew one picture, and that, too, is featured toward the end of the book's content.

It's somewhat like a serendipitous find while walking in the park, for example, when a large denomination note of currency suddenly and completely unexpectedly appears at your feet.  You stop and pick it up, discovering that it's real.  You stuff it in your pocket, and there it seems to grow, even glow, as if emanating stars and sparkles and bright colors, and you begin to levitate, in a way; you lose yourself in pleasing thoughts of using that find to perfect advantage....

But I digress a bit.  I seem to do that frequently...  The Book...   When SweetHeart and I

discovered a large crack in our "Nest Egg," we knew we had to find new means of generating income.  At a certain advanced age, one finds oneself, sadly, a victim of Ageism and irrelevance.  It matters little how brilliantly you may have performed in your professional life, how many awards and accolades you received along the way.

When we reach a certain age, we become mere labels...   "Seniors," "Elderly," past our prime.  The perception among the young -- to those of us no longer in the bloom of youth -- is like a scar or a poison pen letter or a false accusation or a striped prison tunic with a large number sewn onto its chest position...  A stigma, like a contagious disease, like a toxin.

In spite of brilliant Curricula Vitae (CVs), endless job searches, want ads, internet career sites and too much more, all pursued exhaustedly, we, the "Geezer Set," are rejected, abandoned, ignored and forgotten, like so much detritus cast onto curb sides and rubbish heaps...    So what then? 

We swallow our pride, accept reality and the "career paths" available to us.  In our case, food delivery driving, using our own vehicle on our own schedule.  No base salary, no insurance, no promise of an IRA or a pension or a so-called "golden parachute." 

But then...   like a kind of curative drug, a precious discovery, the great and glorious career has its joyful moments, a kind of re-awakening, and thus we decide to write a book, chronicling our experiences and adventures, the fun and the funny, the enriching and educative moments, the voyage into uncharted seas.  We begin collecting tales, writing down the memories, the rewards and the pains, after five or six years of picking up and delivering food to those who harvest their sustenance from smart phones and the "Applications" loaded into their complex circuitry.  We have something to say, something rare, something relevant and important!

The results, both unexpected and gratifying, can make the joys and the miseries seem almost worthwhile, worth the time and the travel, the mileage, the aging, unbent limbs locked into position in what seems a perpetual motion contrivance, and the costs of fuel and the setbacks and the wasted time and motion that so often come with the territory. 

Again, the unexpected!  We're invited to conduct a class via a university's continuing education program for older adults.  We've been invited to discuss the book before a large and erudite group, a book club, one populated by intelligent and well-read members.  Both events would center on our book, and the gig economy generally.  The former may be cancelled due to low registrations, but it's the nomination that counts, that lingers in memory like a sunlit day at the beach with crusty bread, ripe fruit, cool drinks and sugary treats.  

But then my thoughts return to the potential audience, and whether anyone who lives in

well-to-do neighborhoods has ever had an occasion to be mired of necessity in the gig economy.  There are exceptions, of course.  And, it's summer...  People tend to remove themselves from tedium, travel on holidays to pleasant, sunny and summery environs, and try to recall what it was like to be young and carefree.   Many are buoyed by strong spirits and mugs of cold beer, but like the holiday itself, a kind of phantom, ephemeral, gone like the fading of a dream.

But inside our heads, in our minds' eyes and memory, the things that cannot be removed or erased (save the devastation of dementia, of course), we can savor.   What used to be or perhaps what might have been, and we can lose ourselves in the joy of knowing we were awarded the nomination.  And we'll always have those triumphs, successes, our trophies and our victories.  Those thoughts, those ideas, are locked inside our psychic vaults forever...  or until we're dead!   

(Special Note:    Making a U-Turn in the Gig Economy is available through Amazon.com, as a Kindle, a Hard Cover version and as a Paperback.  One can also purchase the book at a somewhat modest cost directly from the author...   joelkrio@gmail.com...   Thank You!)

[ 2.  The perpetrator dedicates this posting to SweetHeart for her precious and indispensable partnership, support, superb ideas, her editing skills.  In addition, we dedicate this writing to Lucy, without whose gorgeous illustrations, the book would not be the literary and aesthetic jewel that it is!  Readers are welcome to judge for themselves, of course!  "Jewel" may be considered by some to be somewhat hyperbolic!  (But probably not!) ]