Aging

follows you around each and every morning, making the rudest noises.

I've found aging to be difficult, but also easy. Oh sure, it has it's obvious drawbacks...the things that everyone moans and groans about. But seldom do people point out the positives.  I don't know how, or when, but you change inside. Things that were "life or death"...a chipped nail; someone said such and such...they don't matter.   God, or the universe, or whatever you prefer...doesn't take something away, without giving something better.

And patience? I don't know where it came from. I was never a patient person, but, all things considered,  I sure am now. Let's be honest here, I'm still not THE most patient person, but hey improvement is improvement.

One day I realized that I was, yes, just like my mother. Twenty years ago, that would have been accompanied by a grimace, and an angry fist to God.  But today, it makes me really proud.  I like myself.
Just so you don't get the idea that my life is perfect, it isn't. But the good thing is I can laugh about it. Let's see just how much I laugh in ten years!

"Aging" by D. Gustafson, copyright Mama's Secrets, 2007.  All rights reserved.