Observations on growing older

published July 7, 2011
in the Stockton Sentinel
Stockton, Kansas

            I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe it’s already July. Certainly the thermometer is a good convincer, but it still doesn’t seem possible. Now that July is here, I should be excited because it is my birthday month. I used to look forward to July for that very reason, but I think that stopped the year I turned 25 – not because there was anything special or traumatic about being 25, but I think that was the last birthday I still felt “young.”

            Last week I didn’t get a column written because we traveled to Goshen, Indiana, to visit my youngest brother and his family. We took my parents along and enjoyed traveling with them. At their age of 85, they are both in fairly good health and live independently in their own home. My mom, however, was thinking about their friends of about the same age in our home church and realized that very few married couples are both alive and well and still living independently. Rather than making them feel better about themselves and their situation, as it should, it made them wonder if they are doing something wrong – as if they should be in retirement acres – or if their friends know something they don’t know.

            I assured them they were doing great, and they really are. That’s not to say they don’t have aches and pains, and take meds for various things, but they are getting along just fine on their own. They are not only blessed by their longevity, they are a blessing – to our family and their circle of friends. In fact, my dad still drives the senior transportation bus and takes the old people, many who are younger than he, to their doctor’s appointments and whatever.

            In my folder of email goodies, I have an essay entitled “Observations on Growing Older.” During the month of July, as I ponder how blessed I am to celebrate another year, and as I ponder if it’s possible to celebrate the blessing of “getting old,” I want to share some of these gems with you. Although I did not originate this list, I’ve chosen some of the thoughts that could easily be my own:

  ~ Going out is good; coming home is better!

  ~ When people say, “You look great,” they add “for your age!”

  ~ You forget names, but it’s okay because other people forgot they even knew you.

  ~ The five pounds you wanted to lose is now 15 and you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.

  ~ Your husband is counting on you to remember the things he forgot.

  ~ Who wants to wear 3” heels anyway?

  ~ You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you’ve read it before.

  ~ Your concealer doesn’t conceal.

  ~ What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

  ~ You have three sizes of clothes in your closet, two of which you will never wear.

  ~ Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D.

  ~ You feel like it’s the day after the night before, and you haven’t been anywhere.