34 Comments
Jan 19, 2022Liked by Bill Murphy Jr.

This is your best yet. Thanks so much. What a gift you have given me.

I lost my Mom to Covid last November. She was 96. And she lived every moment with love, compassion, generosity and humor. My Dad is 97 and now I’m only his caregiver. Blessed to have them both.

I’m 66, and hopefully have some good years ahead.

God bless you.

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I hit 70 a while ago, and yes, the idea of aging suddenly hit me then. I’m on the far side of the end. But what am I doing as all my friends retire? I’m working full time. I love to work, so why stop now? I’m not thinking of how much time I have, but how I’m going to spend that time. I have no family per se, so Every day in the Now. “What can I do today that can help who I meet”, is my morning mantra. Sometimes it’s just listening. I may be considered old, but I’m as young as I allow myself to be.

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Love the sentence, "what can I do today that can help who I meet" Everyone of us needs to practice that.

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I LOVE this story. There is so much gold and fantastic perspective.

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was going to share your writings till you threw in the political junk...

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Ditto.

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Brilliant and very inspiring. I retired last year at 75. I feel like I hit the mother lode this morning

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Beautifully said !!! As I turn 75 this year ,I feel great and blessed and very grateful. I have nice family, wonderful friends and enjoy walking, reading ,eating and sleeping and of course Netflex !! I still have places to go, people to see and things to do. It is exciting !!! LIFE is really GOOD!!!! GOD is GREAT !!!!

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Neil Diamond wrote in 1970:

Jesus Christ, Fanny Brice

Wolfie Mozart and Humphrey Bogart

And Genghis Khan

And on to H. G. Wells

Ho Chi Minh, Gunga Din

Henry Luce and John Wilkes Booth

And Alexanders King and Graham Bell

Ramar Krishna, Mama Whistler

Patrice Lumumba and Russ Colombo

Karl and Chico Marx

Albert Camus

E.A. Poe, Henri Rousseau

Sholom Aleichem and Caryl Chessman

Alan Freed and Buster Keaton too

And each one there

Has one thing shared

They have sweated beneath the same sun

Looked up in wonder at the same moon

And wept when it was all done

For bein' done too soon

For bein' done too soon

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is so beautiful. I have tears in my eyes.

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Loved this one, Bill. Thank you for including it. Made my day.

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Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Pure gold.

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Wonderful!

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I SO needed to read this on aging. I will save this newsletter and read some of the articles she referenced. I think many people are smarter today (with the internet and access to information immediately) but are they any wiser? I think wisdom mostly comes with age and living. I could not have said it any better. Though it is not possible for any of us, no matter our age, to know how much longer we have on earth - when we get to a certain older age, we think about our mortality more. I know I look at actuary tables and think with a bit of morbid humor - okay I may only have to live through 4 more presidential election cycles. (one benefit of getting older) :) Stuff like that.

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Enjoyed every word of it. Forwarding today's edition to many friends my age with a message about the source and suggestion to sign up for Understandably (as I promised to do in 2022). I stopped lying about my age when I turned 21 and could get into bars with my own ID. I'm thrilled to be 67 and celebrate my birth month instead of my birth day to take full advantage every year. Many people that I've known through the years didn't get to come this far with me.

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Thank you Bill! Needed this today, much gratitude.

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Great reminder to keep living. I'm only 60, but still feel the effects of time.

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This was one of your best Bill! Thank you!

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