"Grow old along with me!

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made." - Robert Browning

Nothing is sadder than not to know the truth of Browning's words; nothing is more rewarding than living by them. There is as much of the "last of life" to live as the first, maybe more. So, accept the blessed idea that the best is yet to be, and you will live a rich, full span on this earth, wasting none of it in future fears or vain regrets. But if the last of life is to be a serene and wonderful time beyond all other, the first must be planned.

Many strong, fine, exciting things belong to youth. I'm glad I missed none of them. But they pass out of our experience in due time and we must be ready to let them go and take others just as good, or better. There are those who store nothing in these splendid, reckless young years to fill the later ones. They think of happiness in terms of what youth alone can be, and know and do. For the , last of life can be barren, cold, sometimes ugly in its attempts to prolong that youth.

Those who plant seeds of love, service, friendship, know the last of life as a privilege, and a continuing adventure. The fevers of the blood die down, the spirit grows serene. Friendships grow holier and shared years. Memories become hallowed. Beauty can be enjoyed without the torturing need for possession. Humor becomes part of wisdom. And service is a gift worth offering to those still on the battlefield of youth. The harvest of work well done, of love freely given, is ripe for reaping. The books we never had time to read, the music we never had time to hear, the people we never had time to talk to, the games we never watched because we were so busy playing them, the prayers we never had time to say, the God we never had time to know--all these can be ours at last. And when that chapter ends, surely the Best of All is -- yet to be.