Those bumbling youngsters.
Getting older seems to be a long and slow process. The more time passes, the older you get.
I didn’t really think I was getting old until a few weeks ago when I was visiting some friends from high school. You know those old high school friends you had fun with when you were young enough to have fun? And oh boy, what fun we had.
There is a marked difference between being young and being old. You have to get old to really understand the difference because when you’re young you don’t have enough time to think. That is the problem of today’s youth. So many things to do and so much technology that they have no time to think.
There is a big difference between being young and being old.
When you are young, you like to have a lot of fun.
When you are old, you enjoy remembering all the fun you had when you were young.
The best thing about getting older and remembering those good old days is that you can exaggerate about how good they really were. Even when you exaggerate with friends who shared the same fun, they go with the flow.
Whether it’s lack of memory or just wanting to enjoy the fun to the fullest, I really don’t know.
As my friends and I talked about the good old days, I noticed wrinkles on their faces. I didn’t say anything at the time, but they sure seemed old to me. Also, I didn’t quite remember how gray his hair was when we were young.
When I was young and having so much fun, I never thought about how young I was or that I was getting older. My whole focus was on the fun element of life and I thought that would help me for the rest of my life.
I remember my 20th birthday very well. I was celebrating getting out of those teenage years and becoming an adult. For some reason I thought you became an adult at 20. Little did I know that it takes many years to become an adult and some really don’t make it. I just assume that the older you get, the more fun you can have. Boy, was I ever surprised!
Celebrating the good old days is quite remarkable. Because in all of that, I noticed that my friends were getting older. One of my friends repeated a story three times and so as not to embarrass him, I laughed all three times.
After the meeting and driving home, I began to think about myself. Am I as old as they seem?
I was afraid to look in the mirror when I got home because I didn’t know who would be looking at me. Whoever invented mirrors should be shot and then sent to the moon. A mirror never tells you the right story and never tells you how old you really are. He just makes a funny face at you.
My friends may be getting old, but I have put my foot down and refused to get old.
A friend was using a cane and I didn’t have the heart to ask him why he was using a cane. He was limping and I’m not sure if he hurt himself or was getting too old to walk on his own.
I must admit that there are some days when I feel old, whatever that means. Some days I am a little slower than the day before. In general, I am not as old as some of my friends appear.
There’s an old saying that you’re only as old as you feel, and I’m not sure what getting old feels like. I’d like to ask my wife, but you know what trouble she would get me into then!
I enjoyed my visit with those friends, but it made me think of things I had never thought of before. Someone said that 70 is the new 20. I’ll keep that in mind when I hit that magic mark called 70.
When I got home, I shared some of my thoughts with the Gracious Lady of the Parochial House, who listened to me very patiently. I went on and on about how old my friends were.
As I leaned back in my chair and drank some coffee, she looked at me and said something that startled me. “I wonder,” she said rather thoughtfully, “if your friends are saying the same thing about you!”
That was an impediment to safe thinking. What if they were? What if he seemed old to you?
Is it really so bad to get old? I thought about that for a moment and then I realized that if you stop aging, you’re dead.
“I have been young,” David said thoughtfully, “and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).
The one I like is: “They will still bear fruit in old age; they will be fat and flourishing” (Psalm 92:14). This one fits me perfectly.
Not only are my friends getting older, but I am also getting older and my goal is to get as old as possible.
