… bookends

EmPulse for Week of April 5, 2010

“bookends,” written by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel) circa- 1968, imagines the reminisces of two old friends, forgetting the history of their lives.

Old Friends, Old Friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blowin’ through the grass, falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends

Old Friends
Winter companions the old men lost in their overcoats waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees settle like dust
On the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy… Old Friends

Memory brushes the same years;  silently sharing the same fear
(Musical Interlude)
“Time it was and what a time it was, it was…
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories…, they’re all that’s left you

I wonder what old-age will be like? Sitting on a park-bench, waiting for the end? Assisted living, nursing homes? or, going down in a blaze of glory, fighting an insurgency in some third world country? Loving God, genuinely, ‘till the end, serving society & her people, locally and globally— that’s more like it!  What needs to be done, next?

What memories will you have? What legacies will you leave? What progeny to carry on? What gifts left to the future?

Remember the past, mourn those who have passed-on, celebrate life now, create a brighter future for other people.

Have a nice week.

Gary