In spite of the fact that my body is seventy years old my brain got stuck some where back in the 60's. (Just so you don't have to do the math, my brain got stuck in my early twenties!) Some where along the way my brain stopped aging while my body just continued to deteriorate at an accelerated rate of speed. Probably thanks to the poor care it received these past 6 decades and the increased amount of alcohol during my child rearing years.
Be that as it may, my brain continues along it's merry way thinking we are still in our early twenties and still able to behave as a twenty year old might. I look wistfully at people who roller skate and bike ride, climb mountains and swim oceans. All these things might have been possible for me at this age if I had begun to prepare myself for the ravages of time. Unfortunately I have always lived for the moment and didn't give much thought to my actions of today effecting my action in the future.
So here I am with an old body and a young brain. Not such a bad thing . . . as long as my body GENTLY reminds my brain that we are not capable of doing something before I attempt to hurt myself.
I really don't mind that I can't roller skate or bike ride because my knees and hips just don't move "like that" any more and "A broken hip can be the start of a down hill spiral". I accept my age and my limitations. BUT I don't have to like getting older and I don't have to behave like an old lady!
There are some instances when I DO feel very young. One is when I am driving and another is when I travel. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to do both. Two weekends ago I drove 4 hours north to St. Augustine where I met Kyle and his family. They drove down from Atlanta and we met at a wonderful resort just outside the town of St. Augustine. We had a ball !
But as good a time as I had with the family I REALLY enjoyed the drive. I had a book on tape, drove out of my community and right on to I 95, stopped once for a break to stretch the old body and then continued on to my destination. Traffic was heavy enough to keep it interesting but not so heavy that I couldn't just fly down the left lane yelling, "Eat My Dust!". I have decided I REALLY like to drive FAST ! No big surprise there. Just ask my friends who have traveled with me and they will tell you I have a lead foot.
As for the traveling part of my life, whether it is driving or flying I do enjoy the adventure. And I am pleased to say I do NOT think I travel like an old lady! Take for example the airport. When I flew up to NY a month ago I was surrounded by the old and weary. The PALM BEACH travelers are in a class by them selves. Going through security at PBI is quite the show. You see, when I travel I have my back pack ON MY BACK, no purse, no jewelry, no high heels, no wheel chair, (Thank YOU GOD !), no carry on bag the size of a refrigerator and no questions. Everything for the flight is in my back pack, (wallet, ID, jacket and book). My bag has been CHECKED and my hands are free to take off my orthopedic sneakers. (That's the only give away to my real age. That and the grey hair and wrinkles.) I am not wearing 2 watches, 12 bracelets, 14 gold necklaces that my third husband gave me nor are my fingers adorned with rings on each finger to high light my 3 inch nails that I just had done. I am NOT talking on my cell phone or yelling at my care giver. My ID and boarding pass are in my hands and I am really wondering why these women need a purse and a large carry on bag AND a LARGE "carry on" suitcase. As I mentioned, my back pack is ON MY BACK, not slung over one shoulder so it can continue to slide off my shoulder and smack the person next to or in back of me. What is it will men and back packs??????? Firstly you almost never see a woman with a back pack unless she is wearing a uniform and secondly when men do carry back packs they always have them slung over just one shoulder. Like, is that supposed to be "cool" or something? I finally got Ger to carry a back pack after ending up carrying all his crap. I would suggest he travel with a back pack and he would tell me he didn't need one. Then as we would get out of the car at the airport he would start handing me his jacket and book and news paper and water bottle and handkerchief and wallet and hat. Suddenly I was crawling along the parking lot weighed down with all his stuff. When I finally had enough I bought him a back pack which he insisted on throwing over his one shoulder, where it would slip and slide the entire time causing him to curse me for making him bring a back pack. It's a BACK pack I would scream, wear it ON YOU BACK and it will be fine. Never happened ! Stubborn stupid man ! Gentlemen, WHY do you not put the pack on your backs ?????????
So, Here I am, at the airport, waiting not so patiently for the senior citizen parade to get through security or to find their seats on the plane and then stand in the aisle looking around for someone to put their "carry on" in the over head compartment because they can't LIFT the damn thing!!
Yup . . . my brain is stuck in a younger place and I really can't stand traveling with Senior Citizens. And by the way . . . That far left lane on the highway . . . it's for PASSING. Get your dumb old ass out of that lane unless you are passing some one. And if you are passing some one please put your foot on the accelerator so your car goes faster than the car you have decided to pass. THEN GET OUT OF THE WAY!
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