O is for Old Age

Theme ~ Good Things:

Now, what's so great about old age, you ask? I know, when you are young, it seems so far away and you really have no idea how fast you will get here. When I was 15, my grandmother was the age I'm now, 73. I don't think she felt old, she was in good health, walked all over town, and lived to be 90. To me she was ancient, and I was glad so many long years lay ahead of me. 

Don't get me wrong, there are many frustrations, fears and and pains involved in old age. Many things can go horribly wrong, but if you are relatively healthy, old age with its wrinkles, sagging skin, and aching bones is not to be feared. 

I don't know when old age starts in these United States, where youth is so important. Maybe it's an individual thing, dependent on your health and interest in life. Since I have lived many years, I'm definitely more old than young. It surprises me that I feel no different from when I actually was young or middle aged. I just get tired more easily.

Another surprise is strange and sad. Somehow I believed that those who were younger than I would live longer, would always be here for me to talk to, email, be there to get my birthday greetings and Christmas cards. I never grasped that so many would die so young. I am a bit shell shocked about how wrong I was.

I'm struggling with a chronic illness and all the little things that go wrong as you age. I'm also suffering from the usual old age problems with forgetting why I went to the kitchen and where I put my keys. But I'm not as bad as hubby, who the other day was running around looking for his belt. You guessed it, he was wearing it around his waist! 

I really have no regrets, looking back. I did my best to be a good and caring person. I could regret that I had no kids and now have no grandchildren, but I don't. My stepson died young, and that sadness will always be with me. But you continue to live. 

The best thing about this age, for me, is that I now live more in the present than ever before. I have learned to be responsible for my own reactions, to not get upset about trivial things, to not stress over things I cannot change. More importantly, I have learned what centers me, what brings quiet and peace into my life. 

And that is why I chose to write about Old Age being a Good Thing, instead of say, Opera, which was my first choice. This got to be way more than the 100 words per post I aimed for in this year's A to Z Challenge. It wasn't easy to keep it short, I find I have so much more to say on this subject......