Sunday Poser #173 – Aging?

This week Sadje is asking the following questions:

Do you like the age you are now?

I think I haven’t given thought to “liking” my age. I am happy to have made it to my age, which is now 82. Thank you. The number of years I am is less important than the number of years I feel I am – and in that area, my body and my mind do not always agree.

 How do you feel about your age?

Some clouds but mostly bright

I don’t feel bad about my age, but I would feel better about it if it didn’t involve old parts letting me know they’re not young anymore. I’ve had to work to recognize that I can’t do things I used to do – my sense of balance isn’t as good as it was, my hips and knees get grumpy now and then, my back is not as resilient as it once was. But all of that is better than the alternative, right?

Do you feel you’re at a better place now than when you were younger?

In many ways, yes I do think I’m at a better place now than when I was younger. I have grown past the more emotional years, I have more patience (although that is still not at the level of having “a lot of patience”), I am more likely to let things go than I used to be, I feel more free to be me – and the me I’d like to be is that woman in the purple dress and red hat from Jenny Joseph’s poem Warning:

“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. . .”

Because when we reach those “elder” years, we can be eccentric and speak our minds and those around us will simply shake their heads and put on a face of patience, because it is necessary to exercise tolerance of our elders.

I also think I’m in a good place now, living with my daughter and her husband, having space of my own in the house, because it gives me a greater sense of security and companionship without the need to alter my beliefs or feelings. Free to be me – comes more easily with age I think.

However – the tolerance thing only applies to a degree when the topic of current politics and government comes up – that’s when I lose it. And that’s why I now act like an ostrich and pay as little attention to the news as I can.