This is Who I Am......

[Ann]

I saw this post on another board and thought I would like to share it with you.

This will be my 72nd Christmas and I thank God every day for all the blessings and miracles in my life, and Old Age, I have decided, is a wonderful gift!

"I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body ... the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, 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 less critical 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 overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

"Whose business is it if I choose to read or

play on the computer until 4 a.m, and sleep until noon?

"I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's & 60'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 bikini set.

"They, too, will get old.

"I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well 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 loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a 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 and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

"I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn 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. I can say "no," and mean it. I can say "yes." and mean it.

"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."

Author Unknown

[ginnyde]

Oh Ann, I could have written this. I am such a believer. Each day on this wonderful earth is such a blessing.

[cindi o'h]

hear, hear!

or is it,

here, here!

Cindi o'h

[Ann]

Cindi...think it could be either!!! Hear, hear....here, here! In other words, perk up your ears and listen to my words....right here...right now!!!

[Don Wood]

This will be my 72nd Christmas as well, and I have turned out to be the person I hoped I'd be. So I can relate to the sentiment. Don

[bunny]

I liked it too, and older is a relative term: I already like and know myself better, at 34, than I did at 29.

xoxo

[Maryanne]

that was nice Ann, thanks

Maryanne

[mamasbabygirl]

I liked this too. I always say similar things to my customers (most of them retirees) and I am always surprised how many of them are cynical and do not realize some of the enjoyment they could be having. In my eyes, they are not old but wise.

[Leslie221]

Ann,

You find and share the best things with the rest of us. Thanks you.

I've kind of got this image of you in the back of my mind as the "keeper of the light" who's always there to put the light in the window for all of us so we don't get lost. Makes me feel warm and safe. Thanks for that!

Leslie

[J.C.]

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

the flowers in other peoples' gardens and learn to

spit.

You can wear terrible skirts 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.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street and

set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now!

so people who know me are not too shocked and

surprised when suddenly I am old, and start to

wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

J.C.

[Ann]

Jackie...I love it! You make me want to run right out and buy a red hat and a purple dress!!! And....stop at Sam's and eat lots of samples on the way! You go Jackie!!!