Focused at Fifty

"My Commuting Buddy"  I was commuting the other day on Route 78 by Lehigh Street in Allentown and passed an senior citizen driving along in his little colorful car. He looked to be in his upper 70's early 80s and was still working. How do I know? Because he was driving a colorful little auto parts store, bright green, yellow with writing in orange. My commuting buddy looked exactly like that cartoon character old man in the movie where his house was lifted up by a huge mass of balloons. EXACTLY like him. Rather comical. Anyway, I passed the old guy and smiled. He was focused so intently on driving. Good for him! The next week, perhaps Monday after work, I stopped at the Wawa on Lehigh Street for gas and who pulled up to the pump behind me was the my favorite colorful senior citizen commuter! I looked over and nodded to him. He nodded back in greeting. A couple days later, I was driving on Martin Luther King Dr, crossing Oxford Drive and my little old friend passed...

"Burden"  I feel crushed as the weight of this world pins me down. It rests fully upon me, Upon my body and my tired soul. I stare up at the wispy clouds overhead, my breath labored. The clouds are floating freely, so light, Changing their shape ever so slowly, So angelic, filled with colors unseen. Why can't I change my shape, my attitude, my mindset As these clouds do along their journey? Sometimes I don't know, how will I continue. Whether it's the burden of past decisions which forces me down Or the burden of past ways which have hurt others. My cross to bear, my rock to push up the hill, My Earth resting so precariously on my shoulders. A hand reaches downward from the Heavens, lifts me up. My guardian angel caresses my face, wiping away that salty tear. I am here to help, to give you strength. My son! We all bear those crosses, of different shapes and sizes. You are not the young man of your twenties. You are not the n...