Time is such a contrary companion. When I want it to go fast, it crawls. When I want it to slow down, it slams into hyperdrive, and it never stands still no matter how much I plead. While it is an uncomfortable fact of life that many more years lie behind me than ahead of me, what these coming years will bring me is a mystery. And I do like a good mystery, a hands-on adventure!
What I don't like is the toll time and adventure exacts on the human body, mine particular. For some ten years now, my body has betrayed me in small but undeniable, occasionally embarrassing, ways. I have lowered a few expectations and let go of any notion of realizing a few dreams. So you won't find me mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps, playing ice hockey, ski jumping, white water kayaking, surfing the perfect wave in Hawaii, or even doing something so risky as drinking a full glass of water a half hour before a car ride. I have adapted but not quit.
Recently a friend and fellow blogger, Leueen Willoughby, began writing a series about how she and others of vintage years, resist being defined or limited by age. Leueen's answer, with a tip of the hat to Clint Eastwood, is: "Don't let the old gal in." I like that approach. Thank you Leueen!
Some mornings, the old gal thumps on my front door, uninvited, unscheduled, unwelcome. But there she is with her arthritis, her resentment, and melancholia, moaning about getting old. Sometimes she pushes to get a foot in the door as she wails about her missing favourite pen, her journal, or her cell phone because she can't for the life of her remember where she left them. I may listen to and even commiserate with her for a moment. The old gal is after all a helpful reminder that I've let myself get tired, or bored, or that I've eaten poorly. I can fix those things and the lost always get found ... eventually.
I have things to do and places to go. You will find me working out, walking, eating as I ought (most of the time!), enjoying a glass of wine, cooking up a cultural feast at home or perhaps sipping a cappuccino in a faraway place. You will find me in the company of the people I love, doing the things I love, in the places I love, and grateful for the love and life I am so blessed to experience.
And besides, there's a new kid on the block...a granddaughter.
©2019 April Hoeller
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. I am now seeing how that gal knocks often and hard on my parents door, as they fight in their mid late 80s against its insistence in coming in. Brave couple.