“Slow down, Son. 70 isn’t the end.
But there comes a time
when signs on the road ahead are not so easy to see
and after a while they blur completely.
Then you have a choice.
Fight on through the probabilities.
Battle the inevitable.
Or
doze in a comfortable chair,
bundled up near the fire place.
Enjoy the arrival of your
last winter of content.

Remember all the trouble you had
shoveling all that damn snow
off your back deck and drive way?
Well, now it won’t feel all that essential to do.
Yes,
it will warm again.
Spring will come.
Snow will melt.
Crocus will triumph
through ice and frozen mud.
You just won’t need to be aware
of all these vital goings on…”

Then the old man climbed the stairs and was gone.