When I started you leave a night light on in the bathroom, because I knew I was going to need it many times in the night.

I'll let you know when I get there.

Now that is a good one.

I felt old at 17. Or, one day after turning 17. Things happen. And then better events also occur.

Each time my body holds a big protest against its labor, I feel old. It started when I was in grade school and had back pains. That lasted a month, maybe. Then after my car accident when I was 22, I felt old for around half a year. Fast forward to when I was around 40, the osteopenia was settling into my spine and hip (undiagnosed at that time), I was still smoking and shorter of breath than when I was a kid, was out of shape. That lasted around a year. I didn't quit smoking til a few years later, when I had my knee operated on. "Old" was just a few weeks, then. Around 5 years later I had the other knee scraped and drilled. Old lasted a couple of weeks.

The pain in my body has gotten worse but it's been gradual and the spots are isolated, and I'm mentally and emotionally more mature now and better able to deal with it. So other than "episodes," I actually feel younger than I have in almost 2 decades. I'll be 58 this coming Saturday.

Happy birthday, dear lady! Gentle hugs to you.

I think as long as you have the sense of playfulness, and fun, as long as you wake up each day with excitement, looking forward to what the day will bring, and what you can give, it’s difficult to feel old.

...and, as of last month, I can still turn a cartwheel like a boss. I do that a few times every year just to make sure I still can :boxing2:

Yeah! Last time I did a cartwheel I was 6 years old.

I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist.

I noticed his dds diploma on the wall, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 40-odd years ago.

Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then?

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought.

This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School...

'Yes. Yes, I did. I'm a Mustang,' he gleamed with pride.

'When did you graduate?' I asked.

He answered, 'in 1965. Why do you ask?'

'You were in my class!’ I exclaimed.

He looked at me closely.

Then, that ugly, old, bald, wrinkled faced, gray-haired, son-of-a-bitch asked, 'What did you teach" ?

:MOJE_whot:???

Oh My, BK!!

When my arms started getting bruised from events of which I have no recollection.

It's the body that is ageing. That sucker has a built-in timer with an irrevocable expiration date. So, the creaks and unusual twinges remind me of that ticking clock and this leased body. However, the mind, the spirit, the spark is still going strong, young and vibrant.

RICK
Aware and Accepting the Future

When the Salesladies and Cashiers started calling me Sweetie and Honey.

Awe, ‘Honey’ is sweet though.

When younger men refer to me as "young man". Find it to be patronizing and offensive. I am 80 . Found that energy level seemed to diminish in early 70's. Still play golf 5-6 days a week do stretching and strength reps and generally feel good most of the time. Im confident that the move to TV has expended my years of active life.