Friends die, friends become demented, friends quarrel, friends drift with old age into silence.

[O]ver the years I travelled to another universe. However alert we are, however much we think we know what will happen, antiquity remains an unknown, unanticipated galaxy. It is alien, and old people are a separate form of life. They have green skin, with two heads that sprout antennae. They can be pleasant, they can be annoying--in the supermarket, these old ladies won't get out of my way--but most important they are permanently other. When we turn eighty, we understand that we are extraterrestrial. If we forget for a moment that we are old, we are reminded when we try to stand up, or when we encounter someone young, who appears to observe green skin, extra heads, and protuberances.

How young can you die of old age?

My problem isn't death but old age. I fret about my lack of balance, my buckling knee, my difficulty standing up and sitting down.

Old age: I fall asleep during the funerals of my friends.

I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I'm not old yet!