“I have nothing to do, and all day to do it!”

That’s how my 80-something-year-old neighbor used to respond from his porch whenever I asked him what he had planned for the day. At first, I thought he was being witty; then, as time passed, I realized he was lamenting what his life had become.

Not so long before, he used to begin each day with a 20-minute roundtrip walk to the convenience store to purchase the two dailies. He would return with his newspapers and sit on his porch and read every story. When he was done reading, he would walk to another convenience st…