Heart Beats

I injured my foot and I've been vegging on the couch watching way too much TV. But I am learning soooo much from commercials targeted for the "older" person. I'm being encouraged to go see my doc if I'm having...(blush) an incontinence problem; if Activa doesn't work maybe I should talk to my doc about meds for...irregularity. Oh, and there are so many meds I can now take for every ailment that assails older people but I do have to check with my doc about all of them because some cause blindness, brain damage, heart attacks, stroke, even death. I feel so encouraged by the strides we've made in modern medicine. We can now be cured of almost anything as long as we don't mind risking dropping dead. Oh, and there's a med for some problem (can't remember off-hand which one, there are so many) that really works but might cause...you guessed it...incontinence. So here I've come full circle. I think I'll forget about the meds, the doctor, t...

No, no, no, I'm not losing my memory or my mind (for the most part). What I'm losing count of is my age. I find myself forgetting, counting on my fingers. Is there a time when age becomes somewhat irrelevant? When I was 29 the thought of turning 30 was a BIG thing. The end of my twenties - it held such mixed emotions. Thirty was a big deal. It meant being grown up. It meant looking at life differently. I don't know if I really did. Maybe it was more to do with feelings than actions. And then came the BIG 40. Half a lifetime over. A time to evaluate. A time for a mid-life crisis? At least, for me, a mid-life change. Time to do what I always wanted to do but kept telling myself I had time. Now it seemed like time for a change was running out. That's when I tore up my social work license and committed myself to writing. Turning 40 turned out to be great. A real new beginning. A new sense of excitement, involvement, adventure. And yes, suffering rejections, struggling, feel...

When I was in my twenties and married the typical question was - Do you have any children? When I was in my thirties and had children the typical question was - How many children do you have? and Are you planning to have any more? When I was in my forties the typical question was - What college are your children attending or planning to attend? When I was in my fifties the typical question was - Are your children married? And if they weren't - Are they "involved"? And if I said no there would be so many helpful friends and relatives who knew just the right person to fix my kid up with... Okay, so now I'm in my sixties and I think you can all guess the typical question - yup - Do you have any grand-children? I'm happy that I do have grand-children. But it doesn't stop there. If you don't have the "maximum" possible there's still the question - When is your other kid going to have kids? Often they add - She's not getting any younger? ...