Aging Gracefully

I listened to a bunch of men on T.V. today moaning about the worries of being 50 or older and living long enough to see their toddlers grown and married. Hello??? Maybe they should have thought about that before marrying a woman in her 20's. My sympathies lie with the young wife who has to put up with an aging husband's ego.

Let me tell you what being on the far side of 50 or 60 feels like. Your body does change but I know many senior couples who have a vibrant, active sex life. They love each other as human beings and are able to see past the physical imperfections. They enjoy each other.

Age also brings stiff joints and loss of strength but we learn to laugh about this. It's a big joke among us that it takes us 3 times as long just to crawl out of the car. We don't like the limitations that age imposes on us but we become philosophical about it. It could always be worse.

Wrinkles are inevitable. Our skin loses elasticity as we age and the result is wrinkles. Some choose plastic surgery but end up looking like manikins. I think that aging gracefully means accepting your looks as you grow older and not trying to be something you're not.

But not everyone ages at the same speed as others. Many seniors are joggers or continue to work at physically demanding jobs well into their 80's. Some are born with good genes which keep them looking youthful long into old age. I don't happen to be one of them but that's okay. We are what we are!

Like my husband used to say..."If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".