"Will You Still Need Me,...., When I'm Sixty-Four?"

I was eighteen the first time I heard When I'm Sixty-Four.

Two-thirds of the twelfth day of March had passed, forty nine years into 1900, when I was born to do what I have done. A young man and woman by the name of Don and Berylene Beck became parents for the first time. On that day I became a son, a grandson, a nephew and a cousin. I would later become a brother, a friend, an uncle, a husband, a father and a grandfather. Sixty-four years have gone by, one day at a time, and, except for the first few years, I can still remember most of those days. Some with pride and joy, some with regret and a heart that weighs heavy.

As with anyone fortunate enough to endure living for so many years, I am who I am because of so many wonderful people and a few not so wonderful. My parents, my grandparents, my brothers and their families, my aunts and uncles and their families and my friends are all responsible for giving me what is now within my mind, my heart and my soul. Then this wonderful woman by the name of Amber came along and gave me two wonderful daughters, who then gave me three terrific grandchildren and these loving souls, my family,  made me into the man I am today.

I say the years have been hard on this old body but in truth it is not the time, it is more how I elected to spend that time that has taken its toll. But my mind, though not blessed with speed of thought, is capable of a wide range of emotions, is brimming full of memories, can still perform simple arithmetic and can still dream of better tomorrows.

My hope is that my years to come are many, that my mind will forever be young, that my friends will always be friends, that I will always bring love and happiness to my family as will they to me and that I will always carry my load and be needed.....even though I'm sixty-four.