Only decrepitude

Hooray! The snow melted, fallen leaves are edged with frost, I’ve been to the knee man, and he says it’s only an “arthritis flare,” which I never heard of before, but which could actually be a result of the sinus infection I had in January. I got a steroid shot and I’m already much better, should be able to drive and walk normally by the afternoon. It’s a miracle. 

“So it’s only ordinary decrepitude!” I told the knee man, laughing with relief. He laughed with me, loading his syringe with miracle juice. “You can call it that if you want,” he murmured tactfully.

I’m already older than I ever expected to be, older than the average life expectancy worldwide, old enough to see how lucky I am to be alive at all. Here’s more unearned privilege. I think of people who live with pain all the time, those who have no access to steroid shots and people who can give them, those who have serious conditions, and those sleeping in blue tents next to the church I had to pass to get to the doctor’s offices: and I wish I could share my privilege with the whole world.