Life's Hurdles

Even in his seventies he still cuts
a dashing figure, a man careful of his
sartorial appearance, immaculate in his
toilette, beard trimmed to perfection
the very picture of aristocratic elegance.
Still, life has a stealthy way of teaching
us experiences we might vastly prefer
not to be presented with, and he has had
his share. His penchant as a bon vivant
and roue, impressed his wife to such a
degree she chose to leave him. His
punctilious attention to details has left
him with an opulent abode with no one
to share its pristine perfection. He is an
affable man, a kind man and an avid
adventurer for whom no number of trips
abroad into the world at large is too many.
That ambition has him on his second round
of visiting all the countries of the world
which ambition has latterly been put on hold. 
Sequestered briefly in a change-room
while fitting himself into new trousers he
suddenly turned from upright to sprawl
and it was agony awaiting the ambulance.
He has since then suffered the quality of
mercy afforded those who survive the sad
happenstance of a broken hip. Hobbling
piteously, grateful that his ex-wife briefly
returned to give him aid, he has graduated
finally from walker to cane, already in
the throes of planning his next global trip.