Some years ago I remember reading (or was it hearing) a funny line from Bill Cosby, my favorite comedian. It was about growing older. As I remember it he said…”You know you’re getting old when you bend down to tie your shoelaces and wonder if there is anything else you can do while you’re down there!”
Now at 55 I don’t consider myself old…but I have had a few moments of doubt here of late…
Like when my husband, John, and I were walking into our adult Spanish class last Friday and were greeted by someone asking us if we were there for the arthritis class! Arthritis class? Now, I know my knees were hurting just a tad since I just started jogging again, but I was assured that was because I was running in the wrong shoes. Geez, did I LOOK like I needed to be in the arthritis class?
Or, today, when I was booking tickets for our upcoming Travel With a Purpose trip to Peru. I had to fill in my birthday and year. Watched all those years go by … 55 of them … as I scrolled all the way down to find 1956!
And then there was my annual check up just two days ago. In the exam room. Lovely nurse looking at my chart on her computer. Her back to me. She asks, “Looking forward to retiring soon?” Now, granted it’s been a busy and full week. They all are for me. But retire? Me? At 55? I’m just hitting my stride.
Hmmm….come to think of it now…this has been going on for awhile.
Family trip. France 2009. On a bus in Paris. Beautiful, elegant older woman is staring at my teenage son, Johnathon. Notices he has quite a bit of acne. She motions to me and starts to speak in French. I manage to tell her I only understand a very little French. Even so, I’m able to figure out what she is trying to say. Cut a kiwi in half. Squeeze the juice and rub some on his face. It will get rid of his acne. Nice woman. Beautiful, older woman. Then, she smiles at me. Points to the crows feet around my eyes. Tells me it will work on them, too!
Oh, yes, now I know when it started….about ten years ago. Out shopping for summer shorts for my daughter, Jennifer. In the dressing room together. I could use a pair of shorts, too. I try them on. Look in the mirror and gasp! Whose knees are these?!! When did THAT happen?
Getting older, yes. We all are. But old? I sure don’t feel it. Not yet anyway, regardless of the AARP magazines showing up in my mailbox now or the 10% discount I qualify for at Ross on Tuesdays. And you can be sure that if I am looking for anything else to do when I bend down to tie my new running shoes, it will be because I am a multi-tasker extraordinaire and not because of my age.
Carpe diem!
Wendy
Ohhh, I can so relate! Thanks for sharing,
Blessings, Terri
Wendy, you make the adage “like fine wine, women only get better with age” so true! Thanks for the great post…we can relate. I am believing the newest saying I have heard “50 is the new 30″ since I just became 50 in January.
See you on the jogging trails…
Wendy, I luv your blog. Please keep it up. I’m sitting in a cafe having a latte reading your last post and just laughing….I needed the laughter today. A couple beside me asked me what’s so funny so I read the blog to them and they started laughing…then someone else asked and they joined in!! Dear Wendy you were spreading Joy as far as the east side of Canada!!
) Big Hugs Gina.
Sigh… oh to be 55 again! Life was rocking and rolling in those days….. Oh….. SIgh……..
OMG I can relate to scrolling looking for my birth year! Then again when my Dad was asked how he was he used to say he was looking at the right side of the grass!!
I love that Lynette…”looking at the right side of the grass…never heard that expression before!”
This week I told a man how old I am and this month I will turn 69. He said: “You certainly are well preserved! You don’t look it!!!”
A few months ago one of my children asked me if I wished that I could be young and pretty again. “And give up all this beauty? Not a chance!”
Now I’m chuckling! Thanks for sharing that one, Laura. Reminds me of when my daughter, Jennifer, was much younger. She’d see commercials on television for creams that would make women look younger. She’d turn to me and say, “Mommy, maybe that would work for you, too!”
When my children were about 3 & 4, I was sitting in the park and watching them play. Then a lady comes up to me and asks “Are those your grand kids?” After I got over the insult of the comment, I realized that my gray hair must be really noticeable. Anyway, now when my kids and I are at the store, they ask me “Mom, aren’t you going to buy some hair color?”
Fun story, thanks for sharing.