I also find that I have no great connection to the number 37. When I was a teenager, 37 seemed pretty darn old. I mean... that's almost forty, and forty is downright ancient, isn't it? Only... when I was 15, my Mom was 43, and she was no where near ancient. She didn't look it, and she didn't act it. So, the older I got, the more my Mom redefined my perception of "old". She turned 65 this year, and doesn't look or seem - physically or mentally - a day over 50. If even that. For Pete's sake, I have a friend who's mother-in-law is 65, and she's with a walker and oxygen. Talk about contrast. Then there's my Martial Arts Grandmaster. Grandmaster Rhee is 81, and up until he got hit with the shingles last year, he was doing 100 push-ups in under a minute. And over 1,000 a day. AT EIGHTY!! So, yeah... I've had some people in my life who have forced me to continuously redefine the meaning of "old".
So, what is "old", then? Certainly, it's not any given number. I'm turning 37 today, but I still feel like I'm 25. Even though it's cliche, age is just a number, and old is just a state of mind. I'm sure I'll get to the day where I both look and feel "old", but I pray that day is decades and decades and decades away. For now, I get to enjoy my blessings for my birthday... I am so thankful to have so many of them, and these two are my favorite...
I feel the same way....I remember being 15 thinking I would NEVER be 30 because it was just, well....old!! Here I am at 44...older than my mother was when I made her a grandmother. My mother is 67 years old and doesn't seem older than 50 nor does she look it. She has a friend who is 62 and needs constant help and care to function. Like you said.....contrast. And my concept of "old" has been totally revised!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to you by the way!!
Amazing what a little perspective can do, isn't it?
DeleteAnd, thanks! It was a good time... and I look forward to many more! lol