Friday, 10 April 2009

At 72 years ...




At 72 years ...

It's not long since
I remember thinking:
No-one I know has died
but one grandfather
years ago.

Today:
I am surrounded
by the essence
of loved ones and friends
now dead or
simply clinging on …

For myself,
I have other plans.


Tell me, do you have thoughts on any of this?
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51 comments:

  1. pradipwritenow10 April 2009 at 19:32

    June
    My best wishes for your happy birthday on your 72 years age. I read your blogs in between my work and when fortunately I sit in my office clearing my desks. I wish sincerly you continue further, for people like us, who finds a source of inspiration, through your write-ups.

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  2. June Saville10 April 2009 at 19:57

    Thank you Pradip. I will do my best ...
    June

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  3. lizzie10 April 2009 at 21:12

    Some interesting articles here. Certainly worth stopping by.

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  4. Judy10 April 2009 at 22:50

    I know exactly what you mean in the poem June. It is so true. I have so many relatives and friends that are sick or clinging to life and so many wonderful people in my past that are no longer there. I hope you had a great birthday.

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  5. CathM10 April 2009 at 23:08

    The sentiment of the poem has been captured so beautifully!

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  6. Glynis Peters 11 April 2009 at 00:29

    Fascinating blog, a mature site with a young heart! :)

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  7. The Retired One11 April 2009 at 03:51

    There is a saying (I don't know who the author was to quote it to) that says that you spend the first fifty years of your life gaining friends, and the next fifty: losing them.
    I am in the same boat and I am only 56 years old...we have lost many friends to cancer already.

    The Retirement Chronicles

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  8. June Saville11 April 2009 at 08:12

    Hello JUDY
    It's not my birthday for four months! I was just thinking the poem from the point of view of my age now. Easy mistake to make. Pradip got the same impression. Sorry, and thanks for the good wishes anyway.

    Yes I think the disappearances of loved ones - to death or perhaps to dimentia or other illness that changes a person irrevocably - are all inevitable parts of aging.

    These can be added to aches and pains and gradual loss of mobility as matters to which we must adjust.

    And fight against, because of the effects they could have upon us.

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  9. June Saville11 April 2009 at 12:20

    LIZZIE
    Thanks for the visit. I'll be in touch.

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  10. June Saville11 April 2009 at 12:21

    CATH M
    Thanks for your familiar support.

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  11. June Saville11 April 2009 at 12:31

    Glynis
    With sentiments such as those you are my friend for life!

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  12. June Saville11 April 2009 at 12:32

    Crikey RETIRED ONE
    Don't let that get to you. It's far too early to have misadventure and sadness rule.
    Come to think of it - I can say that of any age!

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  13. Unknown11 April 2009 at 19:14

    Beautiful poem - the same feeling, different language...
    `The essence of loved once and friends` makes our memories sad and happy in the same time ...
    Srecan rodjendan, draga June Saville!
    Happy birthday, dear June Saville!

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  14. June Saville11 April 2009 at 19:30

    RADICA
    I am pleased that you appreciated my words - yes, they are universal feelings.

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  15. Writing on Board12 April 2009 at 05:50

    I'm alive. You're alive. We're alive. Thank you, June.

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  16. June Saville12 April 2009 at 08:08

    WRITER ON BOARD
    That's the point isn't it. And we can all do a lot to keep it that way!
    June

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  17. June Saville12 April 2009 at 09:27

    Hi STRAWBERRY GIRL
    Thanks for dropping in again. Have you had a peek at my other blog Journeys in Creative Writing? A full length mystery, short stories and poetry. I thought that seeing your blog is called Creatively Written ...
    June

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  18. IJ15 April 2009 at 10:23

    A simple thought there... and it triggered my emotions. I'm scared of death in the sense of being scared of the unknown. Having had to certify patients dead and fill out death certificates, it surprises me why I haven't yet made peace with death... as a doctor, even as a Christian yearning for heaven, I haven't yet come to terms with it. What do you think about this little dilemma?

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  19. June Saville15 April 2009 at 14:03

    Lilly Jones
    I think I'll take it when it comes ...
    Meanwhile I live life to the full and make plans well into the future.
    June

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  20. Anonymous22 April 2009 at 09:01

    Most of the people that I've liked in my life are now dead. I have other plans too. I'd like to think they're my spiritual support team from the other side. I hope so. Happy Birthday.

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  21. June Saville23 April 2009 at 08:30

    LINDA
    That's a nice thought - a spiritual support team ...

    It's not my birthday for another four months. My poem was a moment of introspection - no link to dates, just to my legal age.

    I'm pleased you were drawn to my poem.
    June

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  22. Unknown27 April 2009 at 00:13

    That poem rings chimes for me. It reinforce my feeling that an old person is anyone 10 years older than me (aged 75), and should, if possible, be avoided.

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  23. June Saville27 April 2009 at 06:54

    But then PLUTARCH those ten years older than ourselves need only be as old as they feel ...
    I wouldn't put limitations on any age.
    Many factors in this are personal - so I'm simply pressing on and living life as well as I can for as long as I feel like it. So that gives me a life span to 120!

    I'm pleased the poem rang chimes for you - that's what poems should do ...

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  24. Rogue27 April 2009 at 07:13

    As I read your poem June, The Beatles song " In My Life" plays over and over in my mind. Through all the friends and lovers, some now gone, the memories remain and find me smiling at lifes silly little games. Devour life! We only get one shot. Great poem June.

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  25. Eric S.27 April 2009 at 13:10

    I am so glad you have other plans, for we would surely suffer a great lose otherwise.

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  26. June Saville27 April 2009 at 15:56

    Thanks ROGUE - devour life! It's a way to lose weight, not gain it! Fun is as light as a feather.

    I am the Beatles' greatest fan - so move over..

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  27. June Saville27 April 2009 at 16:16

    Hi ERIC
    What a nice thing for you to say - I'm all a-twitter (NOT the social networking one).

    Good to see you back.

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  28. IJ29 April 2009 at 13:28

    Well June, I hope to be reading your blog many years from now. By then I might be planning my own version of 70+. Your blog teaches me to live life to its fullest and for the first time I do wonder what I'll be doing at seventy. Lol! An exciting thought, eh? Stay blessed.

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  29. June Saville29 April 2009 at 13:48

    Yes an exciting thought LILLY JONES. I do love life so, but I would like a little money to be able to take advantage of more of its possibilities. Not complaining, just explaining. Maybe someone will buy Paternity!
    A pension does limit you.

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  30. Anonymous30 April 2009 at 20:24

    It is hard to think about it but we have three cycles. Birth. Life. Death. And possibly the fourth. Unknown.

    Abraham Lincoln
    Brookville, Ohio

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  31. June Saville30 April 2009 at 23:03

    Hi ABE
    I'll deal with each stage of life as it comes - or doesn't come ....
    June

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  32. ANC3 May 2009 at 03:27

    As I read this, I thought about my grandfather and how his POV on life must be, and is, so different from mine.

    Thank you for a wonderful post!

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  33. June Saville3 May 2009 at 10:15

    ABSOLUTELY NORMAL CHAOS
    I do think it's a wise move to put yourself in someone else's shoes, at least once each day.

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  34. Anonymous4 May 2009 at 02:58

    Hi again June. This is linda. I've started a new blog for the new and improved more mysterious me. I also changed my post name. I just wanted to let you know that I added your link at my new place. ;)

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  35. June Saville4 May 2009 at 13:18

    Hi Linda
    I like your new site!
    The pictures I use on 70 Plus are mainly from my Canon Powershot A610 5 megapixels. Not an expensive camera, but easy to use and I think it does a great job. Have had it for about three years with no troubles.

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  36. Anonymous6 May 2009 at 09:49

    You must get 'Paternity' published. I shall mail you a list of publishers I know. I am disappearing into the Himalayas, now, for its boiling out here...

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  37. June Saville6 May 2009 at 18:15

    Thanks for the thought SMITA - and enjoy the Himalayas. Please take me in your pocket ...

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  38. Femin Susan7 May 2009 at 20:41

    lovely poem.
    cheers!

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  39. Michaela7 May 2009 at 23:02

    HI! I am "only" 38, I haven't lost many relatives or friends yet, even though every single loss has been huge. But I think of it as a lesson for me with every life that ends "too soon", a reminder that we have to live life to the fullest as we go along, that we have to treat others and ourselves with respect and love every single day.
    :))

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  40. June Saville8 May 2009 at 10:19

    Pleased you got something out of my poem Susan ...

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  41. June Saville8 May 2009 at 10:20

    hillybillyfarmgirl
    I wished I'd learned that lesson when I was 'only' 38. I may have done a few things differently.

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  42. A misinterpreted wave11 May 2009 at 20:49

    I loved the twist in the last line 'I have other plans', what a lesson to us all.

    A wonderful poem, thanks for sharing

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  43. Vancouver, Canada12 May 2009 at 05:31

    jumped, hopped and skipped my way here! Phew! i made it in one piece :) You are such an inspiration to us all sweetie..Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day! A very Happy Belated Birthday to You hun :)

    Love the passion and zest you have for life. Life truly is a manifestation of our thoughts.

    Much Love to you hun..Sandy xx

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  44. Sandy12 May 2009 at 05:38

    Sweetie, I also wanted to ask what the secret is to your beauty! You look gorgeous..beautiful skin..simply radiant!

    Oh by the way, this is my other blog..

    Much Love,

    Sandy xx

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  45. June Saville12 May 2009 at 11:16

    Thanks for the feedback CHRIS. We are NEVER too old to make plans way into the future.

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  46. June Saville12 May 2009 at 11:18

    SANDY of Vancouver
    Thanks for hopping over from 70 Plus and Still Kicking. Apparently you enjoyed the ride.

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  47. June Saville12 May 2009 at 11:24

    SANDY again
    I found your alternative medicine blog very interesting - old remedies are often wise and useful.
    My skin? A product of the Australian sun I'm afraid ...

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  48. Anonymous17 May 2009 at 08:13

    I am young and wonder how many years I will have to endure this life. I look to the more experienced for hope that every phase is worth its passing. Thanks for this hopeful blog.

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  49. Greener Bangalore18 May 2009 at 13:40

    Age is directly proportional to our frame of mind...so i would like to say... you are 72 yrs young rather putting it 72 yrs old :-).....All the very best June and expecting more and more interesting posts from you...Thanks....Nara.....

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  50. June Saville18 May 2009 at 16:57

    ANANJI
    A comment that provokes thought certainly. Take care young lady.

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  51. June Saville18 May 2009 at 16:58

    Hi NARA - my cheeks have gone all pink! What lovely words. Thank you.

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Thanks for leaving a comment. Its good to know who is having a peek! I will certainly send a comment in reply.

To move directly to all other stories. Go to INDEX at
http://journeysincreativewriting.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-max=2012-02-12T15:35:00%2B10:00&max-results=1

Also, you may like to have a look at my other blog 70 Plus and Still Kicking. http://www.70plusandstillkicking.blogspot.com

Cheers June

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