It has been said that it takes a village to raise a kid… yesterday I had to go to the dentist…it would have helped to have had such at my disposal then. After loading my chair into car…wheelchair…and a walker my daughter and I set out on our mission. This was the first time to the dentist since my surgery and Amy had planned it well. I will try to keep this short. Unload our stuff and in we go. It was a good thing they put me in one of the larger rooms…the transfer from my chair to the dental chair required the dental assistant, my daughter and my best effort to not fall, it went rather well for my first time on strange ground. Got my teeth cleaned and then the news that I had three cavities. Oh but the joy doesn’t stop there. All three and I will pause here………all three were under three different caps or crowns, whatever. I had this sudden sensation that someone had their hand in my back pocket. Well we go back next week to take care of those cavities. Now for those of you who are new to the porch who might be asking…what is up with this guy? Does he think that he is the only one who has ever had a cavity? Better yet he is not the only person in a wheelchair, I saw a few at Walmart just yesterday. Well the answer to these questions would be no. My reason for sharing this with you is due to writers block! Now guess what? All of this has brought me to a proper Ponder. As we age things happen with our health… I will call them life changes… mine seemed to occur , the health ones, about every 10 years and I have referred to this as “Through the Decades”. As with all good Ponders we are not here to think about it, or even find a solution for it…  just kick “it” around a bit. I am 81 years old and I have noticed some health changes at the start of each new Decade. I started my decades count at the beginning of my 30’s. In the 30’s I was subject to weight gain, cholesterol, high blood pressure and sugar number starting up. I welcomed the next my  decade my 40’s with back and knee problems that escalated with time. Rolled right into the 50’s with escalating heart problems which in the last of my 50’s required open heart by-pass surgery, four by-passes to be exact. I had at this time found myself pondering this “decades thing” whats next? Happily entered the next decade retired and the 60’s, well a mixed bag but no decades punch until of right at the end…heart acting up again. The decade of the 70’s hit me at the halfway point, by-pass surgery again…counting what they repaired and some new ones, I now had a total of seven bypasses. Now the 80’s slap me with knee surgery…torn tendon, right knee. Went sour on me and now I am confined to a wheelchair. So the Ponder this week…This decades thing, is it worth a Ponder or just a part of life?

Jk