\u2026where we find the author contemplating aging\u2026<\/p>\n
_ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n
Middle Age Doesn\u2019t\u00a0Last Forever<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was a kid old people were beat-up old. There was honor in a life of hard work, and it showed in age, skin all grape-turned-to-raisin, scars, teeth gone, either some or all, wrinkles aplenty, all the women graying naturally because only desperate divorcees and fast floozies dyed their hair.\u00a0 Old people were always grunting when they sat, and grunting to rise again, bent over or limping, taking on bad backs and arthritis with nothing more than aspirin and Hail Marys. When I was ten I thought they were Old Testament old, then years later I see their headstone and realize, 57, 62, 65\u2026<\/p>\n _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n Something Is Always\u00a0The New Something<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember when I hit 35, for just a moment I thought, Well\u2026, that seemed about half, but my hair was still mostly all there and still the same color, so I kicked that thought away.<\/p>\n Forty was the new thirty, said all the people that advertise and sell things to forty-somethings.<\/p>\n Sure \u2018nough, when I approached fifty the same advertisers were telling me that fifty was the new forty.\u00a0 It\u2019s like hearing good news about the candidate you voted for; may not be true but who doesn\u2019t mind a gray lie when you\u2019re second guessing yourself\u2026<\/p>\n _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n Ten Percent Off<\/strong><\/p>\n I got my first senior citizen discount at fifty.\u00a0 Problem is, didn\u2019t ask for it.<\/p>\n Used to get breakfast at this diner joint.\u00a0 Same thing every morning, same number on the bill, until this one morning when the number looked low. There it was, circled, ten percent, senior discount.<\/p>\n Paid up, went out to my truck, yanked the rearview window my direction and looked to see what \u201csenior\u201d looked like. As moments go, that there\u2026<\/p>\n The first time I was called sir was in my twenties, and even if it was an accident it felt honorable, like a civilian getting a salute from a soldier.\u00a0 It was less fun in my early 40\u2019s, and no fun in my later 40\u2019s. In my 50\u2019s I just gave up on resisting it.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m offended when a youngster tries to call me by my name.<\/p>\n You hit 55 and you don\u2019t need algebra to do life math.\u00a0 Like sleeping on an airplane trip, middle age happened while you weren\u2019t looking out the window.<\/p>\n Hello, autumn of life.<\/p>\n _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n Sixty Is A Serious Number<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking back, I was really just a kid in \u201889, but didn\u2019t know it. I\u2019m Mr. Went Off To The Big City looking for It, whatever It was…<\/p>\n The phone rings.\u00a0 It\u2019s my dad. He\u2019s coming back from a missionary trip. Has a layover at DFW Airport. \u201cWant to come meet me and get some coffee?\u201d I do. I go. He\u2019s pensive. I don\u2019t usually use that word. Whatever it means is irrelevant; let\u2019s just say Dad was there, but off in thought\u2026<\/p>\n Some small talk, some catch-up, then after the waitress topped off his coffee he says, \u201cI turned sixty Over There.\u201d He says that with a certain look. He shook his head. I didn\u2019t know what to say. Guess I just nodded my head. I remember him saying, \u201cSixty is a serious number.\u201d<\/p>\n _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n And Now Comes My Turn\u00a0For The 60 Calendar<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve had an unusual life, and I don\u2019t know how my perception differs from yours. Like you, I\u2019ve had my bad moments, and some were like a black rot, but even with those it has been my experience that each decade is better than the last.<\/p>\n I remember this deacon at the church, a retired man, said he wanted \u201cto finish strong.\u201d\u00a0 I understood him.\u00a0 However uneven the past, let\u2019s at least stick the landing.<\/p>\n Something tells me I should do some serious adult work this birthday.\u00a0 Ask serious questions, face serious truths, make peace with old diaries, make plans for blank pages.<\/p>\n I\u2019m grateful, for ever having, for still having, and it\u2019s with gratitude that I approach the process.\u00a0 Here\u2019s to strong finishes\u2026<\/p>\n _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _<\/p>\n This edition of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories is brought to you by Eighty-one, where we hope you think 81 is a spry number.<\/i><\/p>\n Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories can be found on the Eighty-one Facebook page.\u00a0 He can reached at 81creativity@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2026where we find the author contemplating aging\u2026 _ \u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _\u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ \u00a0 _ Middle Age Doesn\u2019t\u00a0Last Forever When I was a kid old people were beat-up old. There was honor in a life of hard work, and it showed in age, skin all grape-turned-to-raisin, scars, teeth gone, either [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[1369,59,894],"yoast_head":"\n