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PatchWork by Joyce Whitis |
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PatchWork by Joyce Whitis |
In a family as big as ours, there is a continuing rash of birthdays. This past week was Tom's turn to blow out those candles. There were quite a few but he is up to the job. In this case we have a grand daughter who shares the same birthday with her granddad and I got to thinking about how attitudes change with age.
Ah yes, age is a funny thing. The only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids. When you're seven or eight you're so excited about getting older that you push for fractions.
"How old are you?"
"I'm seven and a half!"
You are never ever 36 and a half, but you might be eight and a half !
Now then you are a teenager. Nobody can hold you back. You gather speed and jump to the next number.
"How old are you?"
"I'm gonna be 16."
You could be 12, but you're gonna be 16.
Eventually the greatest day of your life happens. You become 21!!! Even the words sound like a tremendous accomplishment. You BECOME 21! Yes! Yes! Yes!
But then you turn 30. Oh oh what happened to you? This sounds kind of bad. You just TURNED 30. There's no fun at all in turning. When milk turns bad, we throw it out. Watch out now for those birthdays.
What happened? You became 21, you turned 30, and before you can look back you are PUSHING 40. Hey everything is just slipping away, hold on to whatever you can grab.
You became 21, you turned 30, your're pushing 40, and you REACH 50!!
Oh man, your dreams are gone! You got over the hill without ever reaching the top.
Then you MAKE it to 60. Gosh that's a relief. You didn't think you'd make it for awhile there.
Looking back over the years you see that you became 21, turned 30, pushed 40, reached 50, and made it to 60. After 60 you build up so much speed that suddenly you HIT 70! Wow! 70! Major, major accomplishment. Thank God you don't have to go through that again. It got scary sometimes, raising kids and stuff.
After 70 you just live day by day. The day BECOMES Wednesday, it's your birthday. You GET into your 80's.
Now you TURN to your doctor, you PUSH back the covers, you REACH for your pills, and MAKE it to the bathroom on time.
Everything seems to be going backwards all of a sudden. After 90, you hear yourself whisper, "I'm JUST 92".
This is the strangest of all. When you are 100, you become a little kid again and start thinking in fractions.
"How old are you?"
"I'm 100 and a half!!!"