What's It Like To Be Old?

Music by: Montgomery Gentry
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I remember a young person once asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let him know.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, the belly, and the sagging butt. Occasionally I study that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don't agonize over those things.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend and I've become my wife's best friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed,
or for buying those silly clay masks that I didn't need, but look so great on our patio wall. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I am retired. I answer only to myself (and my wife).

I will dance to those wonderful tunes of the 50,60&70's, and if I wish to weep over some emotional moment in my life, I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body,

and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray,

to know and give deep, unconditional love,

and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, never felt that kind of love, and have died before their hair could turn silver.

In my business career, I knew and talked to people all over the world. Some I met, some I never met, but we knew each other on a first name basis. I'm proud of that.

I have two granddaughters I will probably never know. However, I learned a long time ago, life is not always fair and there are some things you have no control over. Hopefully, before I die, I will learn what it's like to be a grandfather.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care a whole lot less about what other people think. I ponder my decisions carefully, but I don't question them anymore. I've earned the right to be wrong and a wrong can almost always be made right again.

So, to answer the question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every time I feel like it.

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Music compliments of Piano Lady Nancy’s Wavs