Opinion

Things you notice when you get old

Friday, October 2, 2015

There are many articles and books on aging. In fact I added to that supply myself, but I wasn't really OLD when I wrote those articles that became books. No, remember I was just middle age plus.

But now, at 90 I guess you would have to say that I am old. Using a cane helps that image, but I just use it to please my family. They think I need to have it in case I start to fall. The first time I used it I did need to have something to stop my fall. I had tripped over the cane.

Since in this golden age we are supposed to experience all sorts of uplifting thoughts, I decided to share a few of them with my readers.

Clerks in stores, strangers on the other end of the telephone, and people that I meet while walking into a business invariably call me honey, dear, or ma'am They really think I am a little old lady when in fact I am not little, and probably not a lady but I enjoy having the doors held open for me, and people allowing me time to get through a door without it being a race

These terms of endearment place me in the category of a little child that must be encouraged and made to feel loved. That's fine with some of the people, but when a middle aged man holds the door for me and says, "Here you are, dearie," I wonder how often he calls his wife that name.

My Aunt Gladys was a talented individual who liked to use humor in her writing and everyday conversation, but she told me one day that it bothered her that since she became older people never realized she was being funny, but just seemed to think she didn't understand what was going on. Now that is happening to me also.

I was in the doctor's office discussing my ailments. My daughter was with me and she told me that I had to realize how old I am and not expect to be perfect anymore. She added that all the caregivers know how old you are so they don't expect you to act like a kid. I replied, "But they can never remember how old I am because they keep on asking for my birthdate." A nurse who was standing nearby said, "Oh no, that is part of the procedure to be sure we are dealing with the right person."

Speaking of humor, being hard of hearing can cause some laughs also. However most of the time it causes confusion. When I ask someone to repeat what they said, they often say it again extremely loud so it almost sounds like irritation that they have to repeat what I should have understood the first time. When someone is facing away from me and there is noise in the area and he/she doesn't turn to face me, I can never get the message correctly. Actually when the message is repeated harshly it is even harder to understand.

So with these pearls of wisdom I will leave you readers until next time and tell you that this old lady is enjoying life, getting new books to read, loving to read messages on Facebook, can have fun all by herself at home alone, but I do miss having a cat. Now don't start offering me your kittens, I will either get a recue cat, or wait until one finds me when I am ready for a furry friend again.