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Anniekei
- Thread starter anniekei
- Start date
FOR ALL THOSE BORN BEFORE 1945
We were born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods,
xerox, contact lenses, frisbees and the PILL.
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, lazer beams, and
ball-point pens.
Before tights, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets,
air conditioners, drip-dry clothes--and before man walked on the moon.
We got married first --and then lived together. How quaint can you be?
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of".
Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagons.
Designer jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne;
and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with our cousins.
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent; and Outer Space
was the back of the Riviera Theatre.
We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating,
dual careers, and computer marriages.
We were before day-care centres, group therapy and nursing homes.
We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word-processors, yoghurt, and guys wearing earrings.
For us, time-sharing meant togetherness-- not computers or apartments;
a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware,
and software wasn't even a word!
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant JUNK and the term "making out" referred
to how you did on your exam.
Pizzas, "MacDonald's" and instant coffee were unheard of.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable. GRASS was mowed.
COKE was a cold drink. POT was something you cooked in.
ROCK MUSIC was a grandmother's lullaby and
AIDS were helpers in the Principal's office.
We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes
was discovered, but we were surely before the sex change;
we made do with what we had.
And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think
you needed a husband to have a baby.
NO WONDER WE ARE SO CONFUSED
AND THERE IS SUCH A GENERATION GAP TODAY!
Old Age, I decided, is agift
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just aswell forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not mybody! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggyeyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and lesscritical of myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
Ihave seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with ageing.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set .
They, too, will get old.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and lesscritical of myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
Ihave seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with ageing.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set .
They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just aswell forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a lovedone, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine andsterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day.
(If I feel like it)
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Tipping it down with rain here in Crete, it did all night, and it did for much of yesterday, and such a dark dreary looking day and you would never think it is almost midday. 
Am I depressed? No, but it has stopped my daily exercise walking up and down the garden. It's not quite the same trying to it with wellies, waterproofs and no windscreen wipers for your glasses! 
Never mind, the days are getting longer, Spring is on its way and Pete fancies a bit of snorkelling! My main fears are for people living in areas susceptible to flooding and the awful muddy mess they have to clean up when it does subside. Try to stay cheerful and that's half the battle won.
Maurice
Am I depressed? No, but it has stopped my daily exercise walking up and down the garden. It's not quite the same trying to it with wellies, waterproofs and no windscreen wipers for your glasses! Never mind, the days are getting longer, Spring is on its way and Pete fancies a bit of snorkelling! My main fears are for people living in areas susceptible to flooding and the awful muddy mess they have to clean up when it does subside. Try to stay cheerful and that's half the battle won.
Maurice
