As we age, we must face some harsh realities. We must adjust our thinking to take into account the many changes occurring in our bodies. Most of us realize we can no longer do the things we used to be able to do without preparation. For instance, to bend we must position ourselves by something which we can grab for assistance in rising again. To walk up stairs, we must make sure a sturdy railing is close by to allow us to pull while trying not to cry out in pain as our knees loudly crack and pop (no sneaking around anymore). We find ourselves talking to our bodies. "Come on feet, you can do it, just move a little bit." Above all else, we try to remain off the floor. Once down, we may need to call for assistance - "Help, I've been playing with my grandkids and I can't get up!"
We discover while our bodies are striking for the right to stay put, they are also growing strange, and sometimes painful, lumps and bumps. They all have medical terms like bunions, corns and hammer toes, but what they really are is the body's way of paying us back for years of wearing shoes. This is why many older people wear "old people's shoes." You know the ones I mean, the wide ones with round toes and Velcro so it is easier to remove without bending (remember that need for positioning). I'll be ordering my pair soon.
Our eyes are beginning to betray us as well. We must hold our reading materials farther from our faces to see small print. We may need to have two different types of glasses, one pair for distance and another for close work. We hang glasses around our necks or wear them on top of our head. We often lose one pair - the one we need at that moment. Personally, when using the computer, I enlarge the print to about one hundred thirty percent to see it clearly. Thank heaven for that ability. Speaking of computers, we need to talk about our fingers. That is another area where the body likes to develop additional bumps around the knuckles while thinning the skin and throwing a few dark spots around to decorate them.
While others are looking around them to see who might be present, or where the food is, we must first gauge the distance to the nearest bathroom. We ask ourselves questions before traveling, "How many rest areas between here and there?" or we are computing the ease with which we can arrive somewhere comfortably, "If I go right now I will be able to make it easily." We always visit the restroom prior to leaving the house, especially in cold weather, and resist the desire to drink another cup of coffee."
The worst thing about aging is what happens to our minds. I am one of those people who can start a task, then think of another, and another, and another until I finally return to the first task - with nothing completed. I easily begin a sentence and forget what I was saying within two words. We have grown adept at talking to someone who is very familiar while desperately trying to remember a name.
I have decided to make the best of aging. There is nothing I can do about it. So far I have not been offered senior discounts although I'm very qualified to receive them. I like asking for them and having a clerk tell me I don't look like I'm sixty-six. Of course, I know they're lying, but it sounds good anyway. I may be going grey (I'll keep it covered for a little while yet), and I may search for my keys while holding them in my hand. My husband may walk through the house looking for his cell phone while talking to the doctor on it, and we both may rattle when we walk from all the medications we have to take - with water again. (Where is that bathroom?) We're maintaining our senses of humor about growing older. My dad used to say, "Old age is not fun." Laughter is good medicine and Ron and I are going to be well medicated. We may not be able to stop the aging process, but doggone it, we're going to enjoy it as much as we can.
Now where did I leave my keys again???
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