When I'm 64

I found this in 2019 while I was cleaning out old files. I'm 70 years old.

This article was written in 2012. I was 63 years old, and I was still 10 months away from being 64.

When I’m 64

That was the title of a Beatle’s tune. I was 18 years old when this song was released on the Sgt Pepper’s album.  Four decades later I can still sing along:

When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now

Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I'd been out 'til quarter to three, would you lock the door?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?

            “Many years from now” doesn’t seem that far away. I am 63, now.  The juxtaposition of ages makes for an interesting title for my journey to get here.

You'll be older too

Ah, and if you say the word, I could stay with you

In the 1960’s my hormones were in full gear, and a long-time relationship was a purely abstract concept.  

When I married at 21, I assumed it was “for life.”  I was divorced almost 6 years later, and it was fifteen years before I married again.  

I thought I was ready.  Wrong. That marriage lasted 4 years.  

I didn’t marry the next woman in my life, but she was with me for longer than my two wives combined. If she had lived another 3 months we would have been together 12 years.

I could be handy, mending a fuse when your lights have gone

You can knit a sweater by the fireside, Sunday mornings, go for a ride

Doing the garden, digging the weeds, who could ask for more?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?

I was 18 years old when this song was released on the Sgt Pepper’s album.I'm 63 now.