Old Age is a Terminal Illness
by Alma H. Bond, Ph.D.
Published by Universal Publishers
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Reviewed by Mayra Calvani
Subtitled: How I Learned to Age Gracefully and Conquer My Fear of Dying
"Life is a play with a badly written third act."
-- Molieri.
Why do most people pretend death doesn't exist? Is it a built-in defense mechanism in our subconscious? Would we be able to enjoy life without this quality that makes us blind to the reality of death? And what about older people--people in their seventies and eighties who know every day they get to wake up is a gift? How to accept the mystery of death?
In this book, Dr. Alma Bond, a psychoanalyst for thirty-seven years, explores these questions and more, interlacing the meaning of dreams with her life experiences, as well as with references and allusions from the classics on the subject of this controversial and most-often-avoided subject: Death.
Part journal, part memoir, and at times with a great sense of humor, the book touches different aspects of what it means to lose your loved ones (from the view point of the narrator). Bond examines the stand of science and parapsychology, as well as some of the theories by Freud and Jung. But mostly, it is a sensitive and honest story of a woman determined to overcome her fear of death by creating a 'Death Journal,' thus coming to terms with the death of the people she loved the most.
The idea seems to be that, by facing the enemy head on, we can conquer it. For such a short work, Bond includes an impressive bibliography at the end.
An insightful, helpful, and courageous book, Old Age is a Terminal Illness is a highly recommended work to those readers who struggle with the concept of mortality.
Armchair Interviews says: Unique look at the subject of aging.