When I consider the loss that age brings--
The memory like a pen running dry
The agile movements gone with youth
I think how will I face ageing--
With laugher or with tears?
Today a friend showed me the preferred course.
When I came to her office at work
I said I was there to give her new memory
(I meant for the computer, but she didn’t care)
She laughed and laughed
And made it plain
Laugher is the best medicine.
When faced down,
Cornered and trapped by age and mortality,
Choice—man’s constant companion--
Offers laughter or tears
Acceptance or rejection,
Victory or defeat.
By choosing laugher man becomes the master
Of the tone of life’s later chapters,
Happiness chosen deliberately in the end
