The End of the Future

(Thoughts of a man in his 70s)

By Larry Sparkman

After turning  70, I sometimes feel like I have reached the end of the future.  At 70, I had been retired for 2 years, working part-time and coaching a little volleyball.  The house was paid off, the cars were mostly paid off, we were empty nesters, and we no longer needed to worry about money.  Our children were grown up, living their adult lives, and they didn’t need our support anymore, which was great and another thing we didn’t have to worry about. 

So, we now live each day trying to find something meaningful to do.  I play my guitar, work in the yard, and  do odd jobs around the house.  Beth still plans our meals, cleans the house and we both spend time taking our grandchildren places, which we love doing. The strange thing, however, is when we look back at old photos of us with our family as we lived our lives in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, I feel sad. Why do I feel sad.  We were so busy working, playing sports, going to events for our children and trying as hard as we could to build a safe, secure and financially stable environment for our family. We both had very demanding jobs and we worked hard every day to advance in our careers and build our  future.

So why do I feel sad when looking back at old pictures of our family.  It’s because all that is behind us.  We of course are happy we succeeded and did build that future for our family but today we no longer have those goals to drive us.  We enjoy every day in our comfortable life with children and grandchildren but for us there is no future to work for. The future now is trying to stay healthy as long as possible to prolong the end of life.  Yes, that’s what I said, the end of life. 

You see, looking at old photos of our youth can be fun, but I also get this feeling of sadness because we are no longer working to build a future for our family.  Of course, we do travel a little and visit friends and family but the days of working to build a future  are over.  At least today that is how I feel.   Some may say, well that’s not the way to think about your golden years.  You need to be more positive and enjoy your life to the fullest and I agree with that.  However, I can’t deny that I do feel sad that we no longer have a future to work towards.  You see,  the satisfying part of life is the work, the struggle, and the sacrifice needed to achieve your goals.

For me, the end of the future is when the work to achieve your goals ends.