Hello!

Welcome to The Epic! I am launching this blog as a manifesto for and a guide to living well. The title and motto of the blog are taken from the Epicureans, at least some of whom believed in the notion that not one minute of the future was guaranteed to them and that as a result they had the duty to live life to its fullest every moment.

I believe in discovering fun and pleasurable things wherever I find myself each day and I am told I have a knack for unearthing them. My hope is that by sharing in my pleasures and some of my ways of finding them you will begin to collect all the riches that lie in the moments of your life. They are there. Take them! All our lives should be.....Epic.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Hero



Yesterday, I was performing one of my regular errands when I met a new hero. I was standing at the counter of my neighborhood pharmacy picking up some prescriptions when a gent walked in on a similar task. Eighty if he was a day. Perhaps eighty-five. Big sun glasses rather typical for the fellow's age in Florida. I think the government hands them out once you mark a certain number of birthdays. Moving with the deliberate yet unencumbered gait required by lower joints that won't respond to commands in the manner expected from decades of experience.

There, at this little pharmacy in an out of the way town, the man was dressed to the nines. Straw hat with madras band. Pale blue pin-cord suit. White dress shirt. Yellow bow tie. White buck shoes. I almost applauded as he walked in.


As he slowly conducted his business with the counter clerk, I tried to imagine what his life had been about. What his days were currently like. I wondered how old his crisp outfit might be. Finally, as he turned to leave, I introduced myself and said I thought he looked just great. He grinned, saying "Oh, this outfit is just something I threw on to go to the pharmacy." Then he made his way carefully from the room.

When I related this event to my son, the Future Rock Star, he said

"That guy is a hero to us, Dad. Because he never let his age take his youth away."
Precisely. Your youth can't be taken. You can only give it away. My new hero may have only been able to accomplish the one task yesterday of a trip down the street to the pharmacy. But he did that task as well as it could be done. An example to us all.
I hope I see him there again sometime. I want to ask him to lunch. Or to happy hour.

5 comments:

James said...

Your son has summed up what we should all strive for. I enjoy putting on a little "geezer chic" myself. It is good for the old self-respect. Without that how can you respect others? Great post.

Suburban Princess said...

I love seeing people make an effort! If all we have in our closets are decent pieces we can always look good!

Apologies for not commenting of late...my blogroll seems to have forgotten to tell me when you post!

M.Lane said...

James, I totally agree. And I am aiming for full blown geezer chic nowadays.

S.P., nice to see your comment again! Darn blog rolls! My problem is weeding out the rest of the things that somehow found their way into my closet!

ML

Shelagh said...

Oh, well said! At 81 I'm enjoying life, if anything more than before, ever busier, anticipating lots more pleasure in life... Someone once said to me (years ago, obviously) that she didn't want to get old. My retort - do you really want the alternative???

Unknown said...

I love fashion and I'm thinking suits. Hope I can invest in some linen suits and business suits two months from now.