Blog 3013 – 01.29.2024

Diamonds and Rust

Today’s song says, “We both know what memories can bring. They bring diamonds and rust.” One of the several dictionary definitions of rust is:

I think we all can allow that some memories sparkle like diamonds and yet as the old drug addiction warning said, “The mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

It is a great temptation at any age to spend too much time in the past, more so, I think, for older people who often spend too much time remembering and less time actively pursuing new goals. One of my wife’s favorite poems has always been: “Come grow old with me, the best of life is yet to be.”

I read yesterday that comedian Jay Leno, who as it happens was born the same year that my wife and I were, 1950, applied for a conservatorship of his wife’s estate because she has been diagnosed with dementia.

My heart goes out to Jay and his wife and to all who find growing old together not exactly the happy ending the poem anticipates. If given a choice to wear out or to rust out, I think most of us would choose the former. The experts advise us to focus our minds on puzzles to prevent them from rusting out. I have always loved solving puzzles and following clues to figure out mysteries. Yet, having to lose a loved one slowly to dementia is a puzzle and a mystery that I would wish on no one to have to solve.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbNAKGKVZpwR7nR9xJYWIBmHQXOqGDmy/view?usp=drivesdk

Diamonds and Rust