Funny How it All Falls Away

"Help the aged,
One time they were just like you,
Drinking, smoking cigs and sniffing glue.
Help the aged,
Don't just put them in a home,
Can't have much fun in there all on their own.

Give a hand, if you can, try and help them to unwind.
Give them hope & give them comfort 'cos they're running out of time.

In the meantime we try.
Try to forget that nothing lasts forever.
No big deal so give us all a feel.
Funny how it all falls away.
When did you first realize?
It's time you took an older lover baby.
Teach you stuff although he's looking rough.
Funny how it all falls away.

Help the aged
'Cos one day you'll be older too
You might need someone who can pull you through
And if you look very hard
Behind the lines upon their face you may see where you are headed
And it's such a lonely place.

In the meantime we try.
Try to forget that nothing lasts forever.
No big deal so give us all a feel.
Funny how it all falls away.
When did you first realize?
It's time you took an older lover baby.
Teach you stuff although he's looking rough.
Funny how it all falls away.

You can dye your hair
But it's the one thing you can't change.
Can't run away from yourself, yourself...

So help the aged."

My father's mother died two years ago at 94.

My mother's mother is 93 and doing fine.

This FANTASTIC Pulp song reminds me of her. (Thanks, Leo!)

I was once staying with her sometime in the 1980's and after dinner, whilst sitting in the living room (what a strange name as no living really goes on there - I think I prefer sitting room, truth in advertising and all) she asked me, "Jamie, do you ever drink a beer?"

My mind exploded.

So, I managed a mumbled, "Yes I do, every once in a while."

She said, "Do you want one? I have some in the pantry. I like them every now and then. You want one? I'll go get two...but don't you tell your Mama!"

She brought out two Bud tallboys. I drank mine in the time it took her to sip the first sip of hers. She asked me if I wanted another one and I told her that I would get it. She was asleep before I could finish the second one. I woke her up and got her into bed. She was in her seventies then.

The photo is Juliet from the first roll shot with my new Konica Auto-Reflex half/full frame camera.

One of the best shots I've ever shot, I think. I'm gonna put it in my book and I'm gonna show it to my Grandmother.

I'm afraid, because of these women, that I will live forever. Even though I've done my best to sabotage that.