Turn, turn, turn

I remember when Prince's 1999 came out it seemed that 1999 was so far away. Now here we are ten years past. Kinda blows my mind.

I often think in songs. Just now my head said "time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future..." It does. And I often have a hard time wrapping my head around that.

When I was a kid I remember my mother often saying upon my declaring "I'm bored!" - "Enjoy your time now because the older you get the quicker it goes." I had no idea what she was talking about. Now I find myself channeling my mother when my niece declares her boredom.

In the past few years time slipping has made itself apparent in who the heavens reclaim. My Uncle Hank and Auntie Pat. Dr. and Mrs. Sonbay. Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Smolenski...

And I hear the clock ticking incessantly like the heart in Telltale Heart...It's not my own demise that causes concern, it's the day I lose my parents. I dread that day. I'm very close to my crazy family, especially my mom and dad.

I've reached the age where my friends are dealing with issues such as their parents alzheimers or broken hips. Topics of conversation include assisted living and long-term-care and nursing homes and senior meals.

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...

I've reached the age where I long to be in a condo so that I don't have to spend my weekends investing sweat equity in my old house. Ideally I'd like to get into that new condo and plan to take one fabulous out of the country vacation each year. I worry that I started saving for retirement so late. Not because I wasn't thinking about it, but because I was making so little I wasn't even covering my monthly expenses. I had a master's degree and was making less than $20,000. I didn't get a "big girl job" until I was in my late 30s and then as a 39th birthday present, my position was eliminated and I was unemployed for more than two years. I have a feeling I'll be working until I'm in my 80s!

The other day I received my Social Security summary. When I was 16 I made just under a $1,000 in my first official job. Each year thereafter is represented with a new number. Some years the number would grow. Others it would stay the same. Some years the number would shrink or there would be no number at all.

If I work until I'm 67 at this current salary level, I'll get $1,300 a month in benefits. That's scary. But at least I'll get $1,300. I could be getting nothing.

I haven't seen the Benjamin Button film yet. But in some ways I think it would be more interesting to live your life backwards. Someone once forwarded me an email with that scenario. You're born with a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom and you die as a result of an orgasm. What a way to go!