THINK ABOUT THIS

  The other day a young person 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, she  was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting  question, and I would ponder it, and let her  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 sometime despair over my  body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt.  And  often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who  looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for  long.

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. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for  not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't  need, but looks so avante garde on my patio.  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 will  dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 ;70's, and if I,  at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... 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 turning gray, and  to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my  face.  So many have never laughed, and so many have died before  their hair could turn silver.   

As you  get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other  people think.  I don't  question myself anymore.  I've  even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to  answer your 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 single day. 

(If I feel  like it)

MAY  OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE  HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN  YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

FRIENDS FOREVER