Perks and then some

When did I get old?  I don't remember doing it.  Or even choosing to do so, but somehow it happened.  I always knew it was coming but I have to admit surprise at how fast it happened.  When did I begin to forget names?  Or find stairs difficult?  It snuck up on me when I wasn't looking!  I hate that!

We recently went to our grandson's middle school basketball game.  Bleachers.  No, they are not good.  No hand rails.  Envy does not even describe what I felt watching people climb up and down with ease.  Is it just me or do today's parents look a whole lot younger than they used to?  Was I ever there?  Yes, and it feels like yesterday.

Now, I am to an age when not everything comes easy anymore.  I can't wrap my brain around all this computer stuff.  Or my "smart" phone that must be dying inside because it is just used as a telephone and its multi-faceted functions are useless to me.  It takes so much longer to figure out the phone than it would be to do it the old fashioned way.

Well, I can whine or I can win.  There have to be some perks to getting "mature", right?  You do get discounts at certain places.  On occasion you get a wee bit of respect.  For some, you can relax in retirement and have fun.  For others there is only struggle to make ends meet.  Medical bills are not a perk!  And as the body falls apart, there are more and more of them.  The elderly ought to get a discount for being sick.  Like that's gonna happen!  I think wisdom is gained over time.  All that we have experienced is not lost.  And we are not beyond learning and experiencing new things, albeit takes a little bit longer.

Grandparenting is a definite perk.  We have the time to spend with grandchildren that wasn't there when we were raising their parents.  And we are certainly special to the grandkids until they reach a certain age.  Then we cease to speak the same language, understand the same things, or know what is going on.  I take my grandsons on a "date" with grandma for their birthday each year.  They have more "stuff" than they know what to do with, so I figure a little "one on one" time with grandma is better.  We have dinner and go to the theater.  Culture is good, right?  Besides, it is what I like to do.  But it is fun, we have time to talk and spend some quality time together.  Instead of purchasing a gift, I am buying memories.  It is special to me and I hope it is to them also.  This
year we will take in some Chinese history, dance and music.

The one thing that is ultimately unfair about aging is that our mind doesn't.  My mind tells me I am still a youth, I can run with the best of them.  And then I try.  My feelings and emotions are still the same as they were 50 years ago.  Young love, old love . . . love is still love, feelings still abound.  But they are now trapped in an sometimes ill, definitely aging body.  I am not suppose to feel those things because I am not 16 anymore.  Or at least the younger generations sees it that way.

Grow old gracefully.  We are suppose to, we want to.  Little hard to be graceful when your "shuffle" is not on the dance floor but on the way to bed.  Be we can still show grace, love, mercy, understanding, care, patience, hospitality and any number of other things that are desperately needed in our society.  So don't write me off yet.  I have things to do, places to see, and people to meet!  As my doctor says "You don't have an expiration date stamped on your foot."

Life is good at all stages of living.  Not just existing, but living every moment to the fullest!  Just because I can't run a marathon doesn't mean I can't contribute to my family, my friends, society in general.  So let's do it!  Let the "older generation" make a difference!