When I was a boy still living at home, my father would often rant and rave about how stiff he was. He was focused on all those aches and pains and the general unfairness of life.

We would think, "C'mon, quit exaggerating!"

Of course, he was always complaining about one thing or another, but his many aches and pains were his favorite. Now many years later as I approach and then pass his very same age back then, I am beginning to understand this more, how and why it happened and all.

Now it is my turn (shame on me). Boy I can sure feel overly stiff as the day is only just beginning. Getting out of bed is for me a chore which is comparable to lifting and carrying a stiff board across the room. Usually, this stiffness remains for half an hour or so. Jeez, how's it possible to be so stiff? A hardened resin has gathered in the joints, some kind of unnatural glue, whatever. I understand better why my father was complaining back then.

This is something that runs in the family, and surely I have inherited an acute case of so-called early morning stiffness from my father.

While I prefer not to cuss and yell and wake up everyone in the mornings, though I confess many times to be on the very verge, this stiffness is aggravating and makes one grumpy in more ways than one.