My dad passed away yesterday.  He was 81 and died of COPD.  And, yes, I’m very, very sad.  This is not a blog about him. I may write about him, someday, but not now.

I’ve been going through his things.

I was surprised to see that he kept all the birthday cards and other cards that I sent to him over the years. Those cards meant more to him than I ever realized.

He also kept my handwritten letters.  I didn’t want to read them but a folded up piece of legal paper nearly fell onto my lap.  I thought the note would be personal, talking about my life, but it read like an advice column. Lol.

The whole purpose was to encourage cheer, yet the tone is embarrassingly solemn. I think I missed my own point. Probably too much Cure and Metallica.

Here goes, advice about age from a 21-year-old, sans editing. Tell me what you think.

Age is a state of mind. It is not a marker, nor a sign of powerlessness. It is the fears that come with age which bring about the senseless insecurities.

There I go, thinking that I know everything at the young age of 21. I may be younger than you, but I am older than many, and to them I seem old. And there are those who may view you as young as well, until they see the lines of distraught on your face, and the sorrow in your eyes.

It is gloom and worry that bring about age. Stress and anxiety, guilt, and all of those mixed emotions are the aging factors.

The secret of youth is the simpleness of life. The simple pleasures. Children see these simple things — a vibrant red color of a lady bug — adults see only the lady bug and look at the negative; will it take the paint off the car?

Yet a child will laugh. And laughter means the return of youth.  So you can’t live in sorrow, because that is the will to age.  He who lives in sorrow is old his entire life.

I don’t need to spout out T.S. Elliot quotes to support my facts. There is no purpose to life, but it is better to use the life — the only life — that you will ever be given, in a way that makes you and others happy, than to create sorrow.  You cannot live in grief without saddening anybody else.

And it is wrong to fear people because they are happy.

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