Like a Fine Aged Wine

So, with my next birthday looming, I’ve been thinking a lot about growing older. I’m actually ok with it. No, really! At 36-37, I’m not exactly staring down the other side of the hill yet, but your thirties are when you become a bona fide adult. A REAL adult… like how old your parents were when as a kid you first really understood the concept of age. I guess you’re still only as old as you act. And look! I mean, I did add some skinny jeans to my wardrobe this year – just trying to fit in with my co-workers, a super hip band of “Millennials.”

 

My attitude towards aging comes from my genes (not skinny.) See, the women in my family seem to get better – happier, funnier, more confident and more at peace – with age. They’re also nuttier, feistier, more spirited and more outspoken – all good things in my book. They also deal with aging and everything it entails with humor and grace - a word I can hardly type here considering their pure love of fart talk, dirty jokes and all things gross (seriously, conversations at our family dinners would make a 12 year-old boy blush, but we sure have a good time!) As my mom would say, “Getting old aint for sissies.” It’s going to happen to the best (and luckiest) of us, you might as well get your laughs where you can.

 

Laugh, we do! My 92 year-old grandma, as many her advanced age, can't remember a damn thing! I'm not telling her secrets, she knows (when she can remember) that her memory isn't good. Fortunately for her, she has my mom to keep her (mostly) in line. When Grandma forgets, Mom (mostly) gently reminds her. And when Grandma sees a sign as they're driving for Dairy Queen's sale on bacon cheeseburgers and remarks that she might like to try one, Mom advises that, in fact, they've just come from doing that very thing. Oops! But, the old fart (Grandma AND Mom) know how to roll with the punches and not be afraid to laugh at themselves. It's the only way you survive.

 

Getting older takes guts. I feel lucky that I was shown how to "roll with the punches" from a long line of lively, hilarious, headstrong women. That's a legacy I can live (and grow old) with.