As my 73rd birthday inexorably approaches, I think of the last time I will be doing things. But you don't have to be old to do things for the last time.
My youngest daughter just gave birth to a baby girl, her third child. Quite likely this is the last time she'll go through pregnancy and birth. But still, as the date of your last breath approaches, you are aware that you might not be doing a lot of things again.
When we got our dog, Kipper, about 9 years ago, I found myself thinking that he was probably the last dog we'd ever get. When we bought a new car 2 years ago, I figured that would be the last car we'd buy. Just now I bought a new laptop to replace the ancient, clunky one I bought a long time ago. Will I ever buy another computer? Depends who gets obsolete first.
Some of the things one does for the last time are things one wouldn't want to do again anyway, mistakes one doesn't want to repeat, or things one has gotten tired of doing. A lot of my friends are retiring from their regular jobs now. If they keep on working, it won't be under the same circumstances. It must be a relief not to have to go back to your workplace except to visit former colleagues.
You can also do something and not know that it's for the last time. When will I ever go ice-skating again, ride a bicycle, go back to Mumbai?
It's probably a good idea to think of things you enjoyed but haven't done in a long time, and then to go out and do them, if you still can. It's an equally good idea to think of things you've never done and do them for the first time. That's advice for retired people.
You're only born once, and you only die once, but in between you do a hell of things over and over again.
My youngest daughter just gave birth to a baby girl, her third child. Quite likely this is the last time she'll go through pregnancy and birth. But still, as the date of your last breath approaches, you are aware that you might not be doing a lot of things again.
When we got our dog, Kipper, about 9 years ago, I found myself thinking that he was probably the last dog we'd ever get. When we bought a new car 2 years ago, I figured that would be the last car we'd buy. Just now I bought a new laptop to replace the ancient, clunky one I bought a long time ago. Will I ever buy another computer? Depends who gets obsolete first.
Some of the things one does for the last time are things one wouldn't want to do again anyway, mistakes one doesn't want to repeat, or things one has gotten tired of doing. A lot of my friends are retiring from their regular jobs now. If they keep on working, it won't be under the same circumstances. It must be a relief not to have to go back to your workplace except to visit former colleagues.
You can also do something and not know that it's for the last time. When will I ever go ice-skating again, ride a bicycle, go back to Mumbai?
It's probably a good idea to think of things you enjoyed but haven't done in a long time, and then to go out and do them, if you still can. It's an equally good idea to think of things you've never done and do them for the first time. That's advice for retired people.
You're only born once, and you only die once, but in between you do a hell of things over and over again.
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