The Alexander City Outlook

In the past I’ve often heard my dad complain that unusual things start happening to your body as you grow older.

My normal reaction to his tales of woe has been to make fun of him.

For example, if my dad complained about an unusually sore back, I would respond by saying, “Gee, it must be the age catching up to you.”

It seemed funny at the time, but now I must admit the tables have turned and all of the “age” jokes I cracked over the years are coming back to haunt me.

Let me explain.

This past Saturday I was determined to clear my yard of leaves.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t raked one leaf this fall and since my house sits on a lot full of trees, there was about a foot of leaves, sticks and pine cones waiting for me to move.

With the help of my son and daughter, I worked diligently all day blowing and raking leaves onto a tarp, which I subsequently dragged to a location adjacent to my property.

Now, you might think this type is work is relatively easy, and, for the most part, you would be right.

However, doing the repetitive motions needed to complete the job, which took almost nine hours, nearly killed me.

At first my feet were aching pretty badly, but this seemed to be a normal consequence of standing up all day.

Then the pain started to creep up my legs and into my stomach.

I suddenly found it difficult to get out of a chair and walk around.

For some reason, my children found it quite comical to watch me hobble around like a cripple, especially since they helped get the job done and they were not suffering any ill effects whatsoever.

To make matters even funnier to their eyes, my wife, who had been teaching classical guitar to her students in Birmingham, arrived home complaining that her vision had suddenly become blurry and she could not see.

Watching her stumble around and misidentify food items in the fridge while I hobbled around the house complaining about a sore stomach was something you’re likely to see at a nursing home.

Well, if you were at my house last Saturday, you would have seen it there as well.

At any rate, all of the jokes I’ve made over the years about my dad’s age have suddenly lost their comedic value.

At least I can take solace in the fact my children will one day be hobbling around while their kids make fun of them.

To be honest, that’s not much solace. But at this point I’ll take what I can get.

Roger Steele is general manager and advertising director of The Outlook.