Page 4 - MidWeek - May 10, 2023

4 MIDWEEK MAY 10, 2023
Better With Age
What valuable lesson has Mom taught you?
I believe there are only three things that get better with age: wine, cheese and my marriage. See what I did here? I guess there’s one more thing that gets better
with age: material in my column that I know my wife is going to read!
It’s true, though, that the longer I’ve been married to my wife, the better our relationship has gotten. We’ve come to the realization that life is too short and that all we really want is to be happy. I, for one, am very happy.
I turn 65 this year and find I can blame a lot of things on the fact that I’m getting old. There are serious indicators of this fact. For instance, every time I check our mail, there’s a notice from medical insurance providers that I will soon have to sign up for Medicare. I have no idea how they know I will be 65, but there must be some kind of database that goes out to a kūpuna mailing list.
ADORE GERONIMO
Patient Account Specialist, Waipahu
“Always be humble and nice, respect your elders and treat the unfortunate like your family.”
JOSHUA CAYCO
Business Analyst, Waipi‘o
“Travel the world and gain more perspective.”
SIERRA HUDSON
Business Owner, ‘Aiea
“To ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and all of these things will be given to you.’ Matthew 6:33.”
DAVIS SILVA
Graphic Designer/Barista, ‘Aiea
“Something my mom taught and lives out is showing kindness, grace and respect to others, and believing the best of/in them.”
I receive mail from hearing aid companies inviting me to participate in their technology test trials. Of course, AARP has been mailing me their temporary membership cards since I turned 50.
Ron Nagasawa
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EJoy in Misfortune
motions play a huge role in making us human. I often hear people say, “I feel like a bad person for feeling this way.” But the truth is, since we
are human, we naturally experience a wide range of emotions. I’ve learned that not only accepting but also being able to name our emotions is helpful.
I was strangely comforted by learning about the emotion of “schadenfreude” (pronounced “shaa-duhn- froy-duh”). Schadenfreude is a universal emotion bor- rowed from German that doesn’t have a direct English translation. It’s the joy we feel when learning about or witnessing someone else’s troubles or failures. For example, if you warned someone against taking a cer- tain action and they ignored you but then they failed, the “joy” you feel is schadenfreude.
Doesn’t it feel good to know there’s a name for it?
alice@yourhappinessu.com
Mail from “no medical exam” life insurance companies flood my mailbox. Whenever I go to a store or a restaurant, the cashier will automatically apply a senior discount without having to check my ID.
People I run into who I haven’t seen for a while, always ask me, “So how’s retirement?” Everyone under the age of 40 refers to me as “uncle.” It used to be that bartenders knew me by name and by what I drank. Today, it’s the coffee baristas who know me by name and what I drink.
At work, whenever I make a movie, song or television show reference, no one knows what I’m taking about because none of them was born when those references came out.
I asked my 25-year-old daughter if she and her boyfriend are going to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. Her reply, “Who’s that?”
Whenever I get into or out of a car, get in and out of bed, or sit and get up from a chair, I emit a grunting sound and utter, “Man, I’m getting old!”
These days when my wife and I go out to eat, we order for one and then share everything — except dessert as my wife can eat that all by herself. But I digress. The other day we shared a sandwich wrap. She looked at me holding back laughter and pointed that it was dripping all over the front of my shirt. I explained, “That’s what happens when you get old.”
She let her laughter go and added, “Ron, you’ve been do- ing that ever since I met you!”
rnagasawa@midweek.com