As we age our bodies start to react to the wear and tear of life. One morning we realize that groaning we hear as we get out of bed is coming from us. The aches and pains become old friends, suddenly we realize the great satisfaction our fathers got from making those same groaning noises and we find them equally liberating. But one thing that doesn’t get worn out or stop working as we age is our sense of humor.

Comedian George Burns, who lived to age 100 and only stopped performing after a fall two years earlier in 1994, was better known in the last 20 years of his life than he had been at any other time. George Burns became the symbol of aging well: keen wit, sharp mind, active and involved in life and still working at what he loved best.

Simply from a great respect for the man, the performer and because his material is still as funny as it was when it was new, I present these examples of his ageless humor (pun intended).

“Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.”

“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.”

“You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there.”

“When I was a boy, the Dead Sea was only sick.”

“People ask me what I’d most appreciate getting for my eighty-seventh birthday. I tell them, a paternity suit.”

“I was always taught to respect my elders and I’ve now reached the age when I don’t have anybody to respect.”

“I’m going to stay in show business until I’m the last one left.”

“Age to me means nothing. I can’t get old; I’m working. I was old when I was twenty-one and out of work. As long as you’re working, you stay young. When I’m in front of an audience, all that love and vitality sweeps over me and I forget my age.”

~ George Burns ~ January 20, 1896 - March 9, 1996

Have you ever wished that you could capture memories in a tangible form and take them out now and again to relive good times? Wouldn’t it be great to project those snapshots of the mind so that others could share the reality you lived? Sounds like something from a sci-fi movie.

Yet we all have boxes and albums full of memories in the form of fading photographs whose edges are worn and tattered from years of handling. The colors have faded on the photos but not in your memory and each still brings a story to mind that you want to share.

Why not digitize them now? Scanning photos is easy and the price of a decent scanner is very affordable these days. Programs like Photoshop by Adobe or Paint Shop Pro make it easy to restore the photos to the brilliant images your mind remembers. The photos can then be stored on CDs or emailed to friends and family.

There are services which can restore photos for you or you can learn to do it yourself. I found several tutorials on the net, aimed at different levels of experience. The photo imaging software you choose will also come with complete instructions on how to fully utilize the tools of the program to successfully restore those photo memories.

Preserving photographs is a way of preserving the past for future generations. It is a way to share a visual that comes alive with restoration. Those stories you tell your grandkids would be much more immediate and the sly delight of the children much increased with colorful and true-to-life pictures of Mom or Dad when they were mischievous children.

June Allyson, star of stage, film and television, has died at the age of 88, her daughter announced on Monday.

Millions will remember June Allyson as the “girl next door”, the image of the perfect sweetheart and wife. The personal struggles never showed through that engaging smile.

Born Ella Geisman in New York on October 17, 1917, her childhood abruptly came to an end when at the age of 8 she was crippled in a freak accident when a tree limb fell on her. Her father having abandoned the family, her mother battled on alone to pay for medical bills and therapy. June struggled bravely and not only walked but learned to dance and started out upon a career that would span six decades.

For the past 20 years, June has been known to television viewers as the spokeswoman for Depends, a product for adult sufferers of incontinence. But she was much more than a mere paid spokeswoman. Kimberley-Clarke, the makers of Depends, established The June Allyson Foundation that supports research into the causes and treatment of adult incontinence with grants for research and educatioin programs.

June passed away in her home in Ojai, California on July 8, 2006.

Why?  Because we have a lot of experience tucked under our belts.  I don’t think that anyone can really be a good writer until there is a certain level of life experience.  Now of course there are exceptions.  Mary Shelley turned out “Frankenstein” in her teens; but perhaps, considering the nature of the beast (pun intended) that even gives my position more strength.  I found a writer who has followed his dream and is finding success at being an author.  His name is Clifford Forde and his novel is called, The Pursuit of Innocence.

Forde taught literature and English for over 25 years at the college level.  It is unusual to find someone who is willing to take a risk, leave a stable career, and start a new one - especially a career that is incredibly competitive and when retirement is looming closer.  But really, if not then, when should someone do that?  Forde has shown that dreams can become realities and Baby Boomers, with their wealth of experiences, have a lot to offer.  His success has got to feel marvelous!

Clifford Forde: Finding the Magic in Writing a Book

Clifford Forde - Mountain Mist Productions

Writing The Serious Novel by Clifford Forde