There’s a lot written and said to help old timers like me learn how to live longer and better. Out of any list of 10 things we are supposed to do, two will always be challenge your brain and try new things. So I wrote a poem. A difficult one. A Shakespearean sonnet. Here it is:

Our love was strong, rare, and never faded,
A thought that most who knew us would agree;
Yet now awareness has come, belated,
Baring truth I should have but didn’t see.

With gifts so abundant, they did beseech
That success, if ventured, would be assured.
Unspoken dreams, bold, still within her reach,
But for me, her life dreams would be deferred.

Her support never wavered; it is true.
But only now that she is gone, it’s clear
She did more, much more than I ever knew,
Pains me that I cannot thank you my dear.

I never knew, too much ego to see,
That her devotion is what made me, me.

Well that’s it. No big message. Just confirming that I think the experts have got it right. It does add years and quality to those years to seek out new challenges that really give our brain a workout. At least that was my experience. And it is tempting me with a new challenge. Shakespeare I understand wrote 154 sonnets. Why don’t I try for 155. Shakespeare. Oh ya. He writes better sonnets than I do… but I’ve written more.