As we age, we’re like old cars – hopefully classic cars – but regardless of whether we regard ourselves as old Chevy’s or Cadillacs, the reality is that just as those jalopies break down and need replacement parts and tune-ups to keep running effectively, so too is it for each of us.

I passed my 75^th birthday last December, and though I feel good enough, the reality of aging is ever-present and something I don’t take for granted.

I first got the shock of my life at the age of 59 when I was diagnosed with a relatively advanced stage of prostate cancer. I had surgery to remove it and then I had to confront (for the first time in my life) that had modern science, a great doctor and competent and compassionate nurses not taken care of me, I would have died young, like my father before me who succumbed to his second heart attack at the age of 53.

As I’ve aged, I think much more than ever before about my parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents too, and the maladies of aging they experienced in their generations. Thanks to medical research and development in so many areas of bodily and mental health over many decades, longevity and good health have increased in modern societies if we’re treated, that is, by competent physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and state-of-the-science hospitals and clinics. How we take care of ourselves, how much exercise we do each day, whether we eat well and in moderation, forgo alcohol and drugs, get adequate sleep, enjoy positive mutually supportive relationships with family and friends, control our stress levels, do productive and creative work, have good genes, and get appropriate bio-medical support – all taken together – make a substantial difference in our quality of life, happiness and contentment, health, energy and longevity.

I regard my body and mind often like the first car I co-owned with my brother – a 1955 Chevy. I loved that car, and when Barbara and I led a congregational tour to Cuba years ago, seeing those 1950s models rumble along on the streets of Havana, held together by spit and wire, made me happy and nostalgic for my early years.

Last week, after returning from an overseas trip, to catch up on my health issues, I saw a different doctor every day. But – whether I complain about the effort it takes to go to one physician after another, given my respect for their competence, expertise and treatment, I much prefer that to the alternative. I used to say when I played golf regularly, especially when I had a mediocre hitting day that was frustrating no matter what I did to make adjustments in my focus, stance and swing: “Better this side of the grass.”

I depend now more than ever on the expertise of those physicians and the bio-medical assistance they prescribe to sustain me as a positive thinking half-glass-full 75 year-old Jew that I now am, a positive quality that propelled me from my youngest years to be productive and to find meaning in my life. I’m grateful not only to them, but most especially to my family, friends and community. They sustain and inspire me.

May we all “live long and prosper,” and be for each of us the embodiment of wisdom, strength, love and support that we can offer to one another.