Going the e-mail rounds.

The other day, a young person asked me: - What did it feel like to be old?
I was very surprised by the question, since I did not consider myself old. When he saw my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question. And after reflection, I concluded that getting old is a gift.
Sometimes I am surprised at the person who lives in my mirror. But I don't worry about those things for long. I wouldn't trade everything I have for a few less gray hairs and a flat stomach. I don't scold myself for not making the bed, or for eating a few extra "little things." I am within my rights to be a little messy, to be extravagant, and to spend hours staring at my flowers.
I have seen some dear friends leave this world, before they had enjoyed the freedom that comes with growing old.
-Who cares if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 in the morning and then sleep until who knows what time?
I will dance with me to the rhythm of the 50's and 60's. And if later I want to cry for some lost love...I will!
I'll walk down the beach in a swimsuit that stretches over my plump body and dive into the waves letting myself go, despite the pitying looks of the bikini-wearers. They'll get old too, if they're lucky...
It is true that through the years my heart has ached for the loss of a loved one, for the pain of a child, or for seeing a pet die. But it is suffering that gives us strength and makes us grow. An unbroken heart is sterile and will never know the happiness of being imperfect.
I am proud to have lived long enough for my hair to turn gray and to retain the smile of my youth, before the deep furrows appeared on my face.
Now, to answer the question honestly, I can say: -I like being old, because old age makes me wiser, freer!-.
I know I'm not going to live forever, but while I'm here, I'm going to live by my own laws, those of my heart.
I'm not going to regret what wasn't, nor worry about what will be.
The time that remains, I will simply love life as I did until today, the rest I leave to God.

I think the person who did this post is a VERY privileged person in every respect. I am almost 93 years old so I think I know something about being old. I am still waiting for the wisdom I have heard is coming with age. I do not have the child like freedom the initial poster appears to have, I am the caretaker of an old woman (my wife) to whom I am everything as the dreaded A is making it's inroad. She is a type 1 diabetic so I am in charge of the maintenance of it. I cook, make beds and bathe and clean up when the body fails in it's normal restraints. Also, I am in charge of keeping her spirits up, I have developed a totally new vocabulary that omits remarks like "I told you so" or "Do you remember this and that?" or anything that suggest of failing abilities. When a person begin to have a short time memory loss the personality changes, I wonder what is in the future?
I do love my wife and my mahor concern is that I should die before she does, no one would be able to replace me for her.
I am a person of great patience and even tempered mood. I generally take things as they come and do not spend a lot of time thinking about how things could have been. Do I have the "standard" failings of my body? Sure but that was to be expected. One thing that still puzzles me is "How did I get so old so fast" I have children who are staring the seventies in the eye. So I say learn to not complain, even keep your weaknesses to yourself, no one are interested in where you hurt!
Poul

Some days I wake up like the Scarecrow. Parts everywhere.
Teeth in a jar, eyes on the table, ears in the charger, braces hung up, cane by the door.
Some days I'm the Tin Man. Nothing works right away.
Knee is stuck. feet are floppy. shoulder is loose. back and neck sound like firecrackers.
.
Plus I've developed "Viking Hands. Three different other names for a specific arthritis.
Hand can't be flat. Fingers stick- opposite of Spock's. Little finger is drifting.
Ortho cheerfully tells me- every three years we painfully scrape and re attach tendons.
If you heal correctly, it will only take @ six months.
Right now- for years, no pain nor discomfort. AND I can carry a LOT of groceries.
That little finger makes a hole, tho. I have to put pills in a measuring cup.
Counting change? My wife laughs as the coins fall thru.