To close out, I'd like to include an interview done by our nephew, René-Marc Lavigne. He interviewed Dad on the subject of Aging - and collectively we thought this presentation was a very appropriate place to host it.
An article on Aging - 2005
Taken from an interview between René-Marc Lavigne and his grandfather Aurele Lavigne. I've included various pictures from years gone by to help add some extra context and background.
Our Dad - Aurele Lavigne
It is difficult to say at what period in my life that I felt the effects of aging. Maybe it was because I
looked and acted as a young person. Since sports were always a very important part of my life (not to
mention that I had a wife who insisted that I eat only good, nutritional meals) resulted in my body
remaining in good physical condition as I aged. So I did not notice any difference except that gradually
the energy level began slowly to drop.
Also I was 71 yrs of age when I retired from the workplace. Owning my own business accounts for
remaining active as a working person pass the usual age of 65. But during those last five years I was not
able to perform as I did in my younger years. I would say my efficiency level dropped to about 50%. But
the experience that I had gained during my younger years permitted me to remain a valuable asset to
the business even though I was not able to give out the same amount of physical effort.
There is no doubt in my mind that proper eating habits, required amount of sleep and participating in
sporting activities contributed in keeping in shape. Even as I grew older I continued to indulge in curling,
badminton, skating, skiing and of course golf. Physical exercises geared to your physical limitations is so
very necessary to prevent premature aging. If I did not do some physical activity on a daily basis, I would
gradually find myself unable to do all the things that I do now. golfing, walking, climbing up canyon walls
in the desert, and having my boys not allowing me to grow old.
So how does it feel to be 84. The main thing is being as good a physical condition that age 84 will permit
the human body to be. Not having to worry about the competition. I have nothing to prove now. What
is done, is done. I hope I have the wisdom to avoid the mistakes that I committed as I went through this
life. And I have wonderful children that continue to astound me with their exploits. I have no regrets (or
almost no regrets). I wanted to be an Engineer but I ended up being an accountant. I would have been
an excellent Engineer. But every morning as I arise for another day, my first impulse is to look out of my
window and admire this most wonderful universe we live in. And at age 84 I try to forget that time is not
on my side. When I was a young man eternity was so far away. But as I grown old time goes by so
quickly that I do not wish to waste any of it. I want to enjoy every moment.
An Avid Computer User
Aging. What is aging? At what period of your life do you start questioning? When I was a young boy all I
wanted was to be old enough to do many of the things that as a teenager my parents would forbid me.
So I wanted to age to maturity - 18 to 21 yrs. Thereafter, age was not important since attaining age 21
all avenues were open to me. I was only hampered by my ability to succeed. Physically and mentally I do
not recall any difference from age 20 to age 50.
Maybe my constant interest and involvement in various sports activities kept me in good physical
condition and I had no health problems. But reaching the age of 50 apart from curling the other sports
were less attractive probably a diminishing of physical prowness. But then golf entered the picture. So I
continued to curl, ski and added golf. I always felt the need to exercise and I know that the reason that I
continued to enjoy good health and did not consider or think of aging as a problem was that except for
the more strenuous sports.
Afternoon Newsread
Only as I approached age 80 did I notice a decline in my ability to indulge completely in sports as
previously but still continued to exercise but not as strenuously as before. I sleep well and eat regular
meals (but never overeat). In the question "when did I perceive that I was aging? When I started to
realize that my energy level was diminishing. At what age? most probably at around 50.
We do start aging from birth but it is a different kind of aging. Because I was involved with my own
business I did not retire from the workforce until age 71 . Some people who retire at age 65 simply stop:
sitting at home on a comfortable chair - refraining from all or most activities age quickly.
At approximately 5 or 6 years ago I had to have an operation to remove a miniscus from between the
bones of my kneecap. During the early part of my life; possibly playing volleyball I severely strained my
knee. The injury did not show up until I reached the 70s when it detached and made walking difficult. I
do not think it has any influence with my aging.
The mind does age. I have found it is not the ability to reason but to remember more recent events.
Events of younger years are still very vivid. I am however more tolerant. I try to understand other
people's point of view. To me a good person is one who is considerate of others regardless of their
status.
The evening smoke
I find the world is a beautiful place despite all the changes due to pollution. I remember as a teenager I
would sleep during the summer in a porch on the second floor. When I went to bed I went to sleep
listening to the sounds - the frogs, the crickets and when it rained the raindrops falling on the roof.
When I golfs, sometimes I am more in tune with nature than with my golf game with disastrous results.
And I must have transmitted my love of nature to Andrew my son. He may be more in love with nature
than I am. I should mention I am a very curious person, which is probably my greatest fault if you can all
it a fault.
Physically, I feel more than fifty years old. Mentally, I am only a teenager. I feel old because I do not
have the energy that I had when younger. I have to accept that. When it comes to aging, definitely the
body ages more quickly than the mind. Rather I would say that the mind improves with age while the
body deteriorates. The mind improves because more information is stored there, solutions to problems
are more easily performed, situations arise for which your mind informs you from previous such events.
If only the body could do the same.
Sergeant Lavigne
Let us talk about the aging of the body. The mind we can forget the aging part - for me it does not age
in the sense that the body ages. My 5 years in the army was when my body was it its peak. Military
training played the major role. And after discharge I did not feel any decline in physical ability. Despite
working full days (and in business you don't work 8 to 5, but rather 7 to 11). However, the day comes
when you may continue to keep your activities with consequences. You tire more easily; you are not
efficient but if you have a full night's rest, the body restores itself.
The young Aurele
As a teenager, I was very reckless. Nothing could happen to me, so I thought. When I was called to
military duty it never occurred to me that I could be killed. When I left Canada for England plowing the
Atlantic waters patrolled by German Uboats I could sleep soundly at night never to worry. And on the
trip from England to Italy which took 3 weeks in seas that produced waves that would wash over our
ship, I felt like a little kid playing in the sandlot. Even the Mediterranean sea when we were bombed by
German bombers, it was just and exciting episode. But then I returned home a married man and with
family responsibilities. Then I became a cautious man.
Italian Marriage
Time goes faster as you grow old. In fact it seems to speed up. When you are young time goes at a snail
pace. Maybe it is because we know that time keeps ticking to your eventual departure from this earth.
An aging person has to be employed in as many activities as is physically possible. Otherwise the life of
an old person can become a period of utter frustration. I want to look out of the window as my first act
on awaking. There is such an exciting world out there.
I like music. And what is good music to me. I grew up in the 30s,40s, and 50s to the sound of the Big
Band music: Dorsey, Miller, etc. and the crooning of Bing Crosby, Sinatra, etc. During the war at the
many camps it was to the dance hall on Saturday nights swinging to their music. It is no wonder that
music strikes a responding cord in me. But I also like the classics. I find it soothing and an excellent way
to relax. Modern music sounds more like noise to me. I just don't understand it.
What is the difference between men and women? I can only use my wife as an example. She still
wants to spend her time having an immaculate house to the detriment of all else. I enjoy cleanliness but
not to that extreme. Smell the roses...slow down...relax and enjoy. That is how I feel.
The one thing that you notice as you age towards the 70s and 80s is that time just seems to flash by
you. It must be because that all of a sudden you see friends that you grew up with leaving this earth.
Nothing will make the time go by faster than to realize that suddenly it may be your turn. How do you
avoid this? Keep busy. Don't stagnate by sitting home watching TV or worse, sleeping most of the day. I
try to have a busy schedule. Walking daily during the winter, golfing in the summer. Taking part in
"Friends in Song" - entertaining at Senior's homes. And then I have a wife who finds a million things to
do around the house. Of course, this requires a healthy body. Keep physical fit and mentally alert. The
essentials to retard the aging process - and necessary to enable you enjoy life to the fullness. The
critical time in the aging process is a retirement - formerly it was 65 but now some people I know retire
in their fifties. And as you know some people take on new responsibilities. That is the way.
Music: As I look back to my childhood I have memories of my sister who learned to play the piano and
of that old piano (scarred a bit because apparently it had the misfortune of going through fire), I used
to try playing with keys as a very young boy and my parents thought it would be a good idea to give me
piano lessons. Now I have to admit hat at that age I was as stubborn as a mule and after a few tries they
gave p as useless. However, when I enrolled at St Joseph's University, the music teacher called me to
the music room and made me go up and down the scale. "Good" he said "Report for choir practice here
next week". I learned how to sing the Gregorian chant. It is a music that is not sung in the church
anymore. It as all in Latin but I loved that music. We sang the music at the mass at the blessing of the
Assumption Church in Moncton. After I returned to Bathurst after the war I was a member of the
Sacred Parish choir and also the Holy Family church choir. Now I am still involved with a music group
called "Friends in Song". So we may assume that music has played a very important part of my life.
Painting Hobby
I grew up (up to the age of 10) influenced by my mother's deeply religious faith. She brought me with
her to all the retreats. Here the sermons were all about the damnation of the souls for those who did
not follow the commandments. But I find it hard to believe that we pray to a God who just wants to
punish us. I believe we have to be good because being good is good for us. Being good to our
neighbours is good for us. Evil is like a disease that threatens to destroy us. I know it is difficult to
believe In God who we cannot see, but who we can feel. As we look at the wonders of this world it is
impossible not to understand that there must be a power and an intelligence beyond our imagination
who exists. I call it the spirit world. A world that exists but which we cannot see.
Did you know that as a baby about less than a year old that I was kidnapped and apparently caused a crisis in my mother's life. In the back of our house in South Bathurst lived a family with the name of Mourant (I think). Mrs. Mourant lost her first born at birth and as a result went a little crazy. Seeing a newborn baby next door she decided that given the opportunity she would snatch that baby and bring it to her house. My mother frantically started looking for me and finally found the lady with me on her lap. Isn't that
something?
Growing up my mother only spoke French to me. She came from a French father (Pallot)
and an Irish mother (Cary). I had no idea what was going on in school. I remember as a teenager that I
possessed so much energy that I would never stop and of course getting in all sorts of trouble. I would
get up before the sun and out of the house.
We had a cousin who lost her mother and my parents offered to take her as part of our family since the
father had a large family and was very poor. She was my companion since she was my own age. So
when I got out of bed I would go to her room, pull her by the hair and say "come on - let's go out and
play". In later life she became a nun and used to visit us. She would laugh recall the bad things I used to
do. So as a young boy I was sort of a "free spirit". I loved the outdoors and I was always finding ways to
enjoy myself.
When I reached Grade 4 at the South Bathurst School my father realized that for me to get a good
education that the standards there were not high enough to permit me to go any further than Grade 8.
So he paid and enrolled me at the Sacred School in town. It was during those years that my mother
died. Her influence on me was tremendous and her loss was very difficult.
Free Spirits
I feel I have always been a free spirit. And you can guess it has gotten me into lots of trouble. But it is
my character and I am positive that being too serious all the time is not good for your health. Even at
my present age I have trouble at times to be serious which does not go well with your grandmother.
She hates it when I "rib" people. She is not like me and I don't wish to change. Life is too short for that.
I suppose we all get sad at times. Life is not always a "bed of roses". There is a saying that goes like this
"you take the bitter with the better". One of the saddest time of my life was when I lost a brother when
I was 8 and he was 6 and of course at the passing away of my mother when I was only 11. Apart from
those two incidents I cannot say that melancholy was ever a big thing. I am an optimist. I always look on
the bright side of a situation. "It could always be worse" is a thought that I have when things go bad. I
am an emotional guy. I feel sorrow, joy, love and all the range of emotions. I pity the person who can
truthfully say that he feels no emotion. Life without emotion is not life. It makes me shiver just to think
of it.
I have had to curtail my physical activities after the age of 80 but not completely. It would be so easy to
sit in a comfortable chair. I want to go to bed tired. Some day my heart will stop. Until then I intend to
wake up in the morning, look out my window, open my arms and welcome the new day. I will enjoy life
to the fullness that my health will permit.
Aurele and Gaetano
Connecting with the question of whether age is responsible for time going faster or slower with age. As
I reflect over the period that I was fully part of the workforce it does not occur to me that time going
"faster or slower" made any difference. Knowing what I know of life, I would have returned to
University and become a Civil Engineer. But because I returned from the war with a bride and with
responsibilities coupled with the opportunity to go in business I decided against it.
Aurele and Elvira
An example of an incident that was emotionally difficult. Having started my career as a businessman,
when because of various reasons the business became insolvent, I went through a short period of
despair. It left me with a complete lack of confidence and on this occasion I have to thank my wife, Anna
for forcing me to get out of the house and try something else. And I took (at least for me) one of the
most difficult way to earn a living. That was selling life insurance. But strangely I attribute the 7-and-a-half years which I spent as an agent and later Zone Manager which permitted me to regain the confidence I had
lost.
Holding Court, Sunday Dinner
Getting back to aging, Even though my mother's stay with me was short, her influence in curbing my
impetuous youthful activities and the love she bestowed on me I am sure kept me from embarking on
careless adventures . I also think of my teacher (a nun) who aso was an important influence on me. It as
a time in my life when I lost my mother and maybe became a sort of a mother to me. I remember her
saying to me "You may not attain that goal but by trying you would always perform better.
And in Grade 7 my new teacher (again a nun) observed (even if I did not) that I was good at drawing,
and in high school I was surprised that I was so good at Math. When at graduation the principal urged
me to continue to University, I was the only boy who made it to the first division in the Provincial
Entrance exams. From being a young man lacking in social skills and having an inferiority complex, I
came to realize the potential residing in me. And from that period I possessed the confidence that
anything was possible if I employed the abilities that I knew I possessed.
The army offered me another chance to prove myself. In my role as Army Examiner I interviewed and
tested army personnel who were way above my rank. I was able to recommend promotions to
individuals that through these interviews had revealed to me their potential for promotion to higher
rank or work. Some of my superiors I did not regard highly as to their abilities. But the influence of the
above people in my younger years made me what I became in later life. I do not feel I have reached my
potential. Events conspire in making you change directions. But I have no regrets. At my age I look at my
most encouraging moments when I contemplate how satisfied I am with those most close to me - my
five sons and one daughter. They are proof that I was able to transmit to them some of life's
experiences.
courtesy JInnes
I have left out one individual that was just as important if not more important. It is Anna, my wife. She
comes from an exceptional Italian family. Sometimes I find her too strict. But she never wavers from the
roots that make her exceptional And she never looks for any praise. Andrew is a lot like her. Try to
praise Andrew and he just backs away from you. And yet he very quietly goes about his business. Your
father George is the same - so are all the children.
Grand papa,
Thank you very much for your participation during the last few months. It was very much appreciated. I
hope you have discovered that aging is much more complex than what we may sum it up to be
- René-Marc
The Mischievious Smile
A young flower loses its petals, one after the other,
they spread out on the ground beside it
and suddenly have to fly away
