OLD AGE COMES AT A BAD TIME - Wit and Wisdom for the Young at Heart

Sep 29, 2026

Selected and introduced by Eliakim Katz, “Old Age Comes at a Bad Time” presents wit and reflection on aging from the viewpoint of a middle-aged narrator confronting the realities of growing older. The text opens with a lakeside anecdote that highlights hearing and physical decline, then expands to themes of denial giving way to acceptance. It frames aging as a constant, measurable journey involving changes in health, mind, relationships, memory, and mortality, while acknowledging a long tradition of writing about aging.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages116

Reading Time2 h 59 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Lakeside anecdote and first signs

Denial turning into acceptance

Aging as life’s constant

Themes: health, relationships, memory, mortality

OLD AGECOABAD TIME Wit &Wisdom for the young at beartSELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY 10 pualan oiraal be dclgheu ena ha you oaul nygythe ot adsumad 2h did. N104 # OLD AGE COMESAT A BAD TIME OLD AGE COMESAT A BAD TIME # Wit and Wisdom for the Young at Heart Selected and Introduced byEliakim Katz Robson Books # Special edition for PAST TIMES OLD AGE COMES AT A BAD TIMEtext OEliakim Katz 987654321 All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by anymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise,without the prior permission in writing of the copyrightholder.The right of Eliakim Katz to be identified as author hasbeen asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,Designsand Patents Act 1988 PAST TIMES° To my wife,Stella,who keps me as young as possible under the circumstancesa my ther,Sblomwb is iingproo bat l age need o bea bad i Kimberley Glaze typed much of the manuscript and managed,morethan once,to retrieve text from electronic oblivion;Laura Siberry,my editor at Stoddart,was always patient,encouraging,and insight-ful.I wish to thank them both. # Jntroduction Two years ago I was at a lakeside trying to negotiate a speed-boat ride for my daughter and two of my nieces.The man Iwas haggling with quoted an outrageous price.Taken by sur-prise I said,"How much?" "What's the matter,Pops,"he said,“losing your hearing also?” “Pops?POPS!?Do I look like a Pops?"I thought.“And whatdoes he mean by also?"I bent over and,Narcissus style,lookedat my reflection in the water.He was right.Peter Pan wasnowhere to be seen.Sardonic middle age looked up at mefrom the water.You are getting old,Father William. For years I had been brushing aside hair loss,closing myeyes to an increasing tendency to read at arm's length,andmaking little of the fact that (so far)two of my children aretaller than me.But denial can only be taken so far.My hair isjoining the hair of my father(baldness is my "hairitage"),I now need bifocals,and my son must bend down to kiss me.Withthe four on my odometer being gently but firmly edged out bythe five and with“Pops”ringing in my ears,I have finallybegun to accept that getting older is not something that onlyhappens to other people.I have seen the future,and it is aging. And,of course,there is no respite or hiding from it.I am get-ting older as I write this,and you are not getting any youngeras you read it.Whatever we do,our aging keeps staring us inthe face.It is the constant in our lives,and the years are theonly real measure of our journey. Aging is about losing our youth and finding a varicose vein.It is about fighting our children and making peace with ourparents.It is about reflecting on the past,thinking of the future,and facing our mortality.It is about changing mental and physicalcapacities and hormone replacement therapy.It is about gain-ing wisdom and mislaying our reading glasses.It is about howwe want to be remembered and what we want to forget. Throughout time,people have feared aging,laughed at it,cried about it,defied it,accepted it —and written about it.

FAQs

What incident introduces the narrator’s awareness of aging?

The narrator is negotiating a speed-boat ride and is insulted with comments implying he is getting old and losing his hearing. He recognizes the truth after looking at his reflection in the water.

How does the narrator describe denial about aging?

He explains that he dismissed hair loss, strained reading, and other changes for years, but denial can only last so long before acceptance becomes unavoidable.

What does the document say aging involves beyond physical decline?

Aging is described as affecting health and capacities, hormone therapy considerations, eyesight and reading, relationships with children and parents, and reflections on the past, the future, and mortality.

Sep 29, 2026

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