GETTING OLDER

No, it is not my birthday so you do not have to go shopping.  Getting older – are you ready? – is a daily process.  When the clock strikes midnight, I am a day older.  When the clock strikes midnight tonight, I will be 27,245 days old. 

Oh my.  That is a really big number.  There are probably that many quotes on getting older.

• “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.”  Frank Lloyd Wright
• “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live.  Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.”  Albert Einstein
• “People ask me what I’d most appreciate getting for my eighty-seventh birthday.  I tell them, a paternity suit.”  George Burns
• “I suppose real old age begins when one looks backward rather than forward.”  Mary Sarton
• “I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me – they’re cramming for their final exam.”  George Carlin

I like – really like -- this one.  Maggie Kuhn stated, “Old age is an excellent time for outrage.  My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.”

Over and over we hear:  Old age is no place for sissies.

The other day, while getting my hair cut, I heard a new one and it made me look at getting older in a whole new way.  Apparently, this was first recorded on the masthead of the Gettysburg Times, in 1952. 

DO NOT REGRET GROWING OLDER.

IT IS A PRIVILEGE DENIED TO MANY.

Getting old – a privilege?  Feet that do not want to work right – a privilege?  That weird old age skin – a privilege?  Less hair – a privilege?  Hearing loss, arthritis, squeaky joints, thicker glasses, and a whole list of other “older” conditions – a privilege? 

GROWING OLDER A PRIVILEGE?  YES!  YES!  YES!

When the clock strikes midnight, I am a day older.  I AM A DAY OLDER!  I have another chance to

• see a sunrise and a sunset,
• tell my family I love them,
• receive hugs from my grandkids,
• enjoy lunch with a friend and drink one more glass of wine,
• read a book, watch a good movie, and work another puzzle,
• sip that cup of coffee while watching the waves come onto shore,
• travel and marvel at god’s creations – especially buffalos,
• do or say something outrageous,
• be curious and learn,

and,

• allow my faith to grow.

I absolutely understand that getting older does not always seem to be a privilege.  Illness can take away physical abilities and dementia can steal a mind.  BUT, for as long as I can, I now choose to consider growing older a privilege which many are denied.  I choose to look at each day as an opportunity.  I choose to be outrageous and bold.  I choose to love and celebrate each gift God provides from the stroke of one midnight to the next midnight to the next midnight.