Still Doing What I Can Do

 

Old Age teaches you one thing for sure,

you are no longer able to do some things

you were capable of doing when you

were younger.

I can no longer help a friend move; no

more construction work for me; no soft-

ball or volleyball activities. At age 74

with arthritic disabilities, I have limited

physical abilities.

I now need a walker and ofttimes a

wheelchair to get about. Sure, it’s a

loss for me, yet I accept my condition,

and make due the best I can.

Life is sometimes that way. It is what

it is. I’ve always done what I was capa-

ble of doing at any given point in time

with my life.

And now I must adapt to my present

reality. I can accept that. My greatest

loss personally has been the ability to

draw, paint and sculpt which had been

a major part of my life since I was old

enough to pick up a pencil, pen or brush.

Art is my greatest gift in life, has been

from the beginning and in some form

will be till the end.

With pain and uncontrolled shaking

hands, I can no longer create visual

art as I once did. Hell, I can barely

sign my name without scribbling

all over the page.

Fortunately, over the years I have

also been writing. These days I use

a computer word program allowing

me to type keys which works most

satisfactorily for me. So, writing has

become my primary form of artistic

expression.

No need to feel sorry for what I have

lost. And I am okay and perfectly sat-

isfied with that which I have gained.

Just for shits and grins, today I decided

to try my pen and ink cartooning once

again. Knowing beforehand what the

results would be, I went ahead with

the test anyway. And low and behold,

I got the shaky and rudimentary results

I expected.

But I was blessed instead with the

ability to write about my current

experience and condition.

I still have hundreds of examples

of artworks I’ve done in years past.

I haven’t given up on my creative

endeavors, and I have this and

several thousand writings to show

for it.

Creatively, expression wise, at age

74 and for my time remaining, I have

these word pictures to share with

you and interested others.

Although there are still minor glitches

and drawbacks with this medium, for

the most part I am grateful, and thank

God I have spellcheck.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 6-19-2021