Aging

Its Me LuLuBelle2 · ‎10-12-2016

I'll be 65 later this year. I've been truly blessed with good health, have never been hospitalized or take any medication - and truly do not take that for granted. I was looking at my hands today. They have age spots, some raised knuckles, a little arthritis. It got me thinking about the number of diapers these hands have changed, the number of hands (both big and small) they've held, the number of dishes they've washed, the gardening they've done and the hours they spent "on the job." These hands made me think of the good life I've led and how happy I am to be turning 65. Not all of our sisters have been so fortunate - we've lost far too many to insidious diseases. Our looks may be fading, others may dismiss us at old, but we should embrace who we are, what we've accomplished and I look forward to what's around the corner. LuLu

Newgate · ‎09-05-2014

@Its Me LuLuBelle2 wrote:
I'll be 65 later this year. I've been truly blessed with good health, have never been hospitalized or take any medication - and truly do not take that for granted. I was looking at my hands today. They have age spots, some raised knuckles, a little arthritis. It got me thinking about the number of diapers these hands have changed, the number of hands (both big and small) they've held, the number of dishes they've washed, the gardening they've done and the hours they spent "on the job." These hands made me think of the good life I've led and how happy I am to be turning 65. Not all of our sisters have been so fortunate - we've lost far too many to insidious diseases. Our looks may be fading, others may dismiss us at old, but we should embrace who we are, what we've accomplished and I look forward to what's around the corner. LuLu

@Its Me LuLuBelle2 AMEN! My thoughts exactly!

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

@Its Me LuLuBelle2 perspective and gratitude is everything....much love and light back at you.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@Its Me LuLuBelle2. It's nice to hear from someone who's thankful for what she has and isn't looking for the next costly beauty product that hopefully will keep her from aging, but never does.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

I once had a very ill patient with a lot of lines and tubes. Her mother was a priest.After I was in her room doing some things her Mom followed me out into the hall and asked me if she could bless my hands for all they do for her daughter. That was many years ago but it has stayed with me still, because she really touched me. Now I look at my arthritis riddled hands and they are almost useless. Things I once did effortlessly are so difficult now.

QVCkitty1 · ‎05-23-2015

@Its Me LuLuBelle2, you said it so well. I have been lucky healthwise, knees are wonky, but all in all healthy. I'm so grateful for each day, sometimes society seems to treat us like we are not relevant, but I know what I've done, so to heck with them.Growing old sure isn't easy, but as long as you're still curious and interested in the world, it is worth the challenge. JMO.

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

x Hedge · ‎08-18-2016

🐨All this mature reflection, touched here and there by a bit of wistfulness is bringing a tear to my eye.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

The way you describe yourself and your hands brought to mind immediately, my great grandmother.

I was about 11 when she died, and she was always an 'old woman' to me. I loved her many soft wrinkles on her face, and those, and her hands are what I remember most of her.

She was born in 1888 and when I think back about her life, as I often do, I think of all those things you mention. She tilled the soil to grow food, butchered and fished to put meat on their farm table, loved five of her own children and a passel of grandkids and great grandkids.

She and most women of her time embraced their age, and wore it honorably. I get so tired of our 'gotta be young forever' culture. It would be wonderful to feel young physically, but I love to see women with beautiful grey hair, smooth well earned wrinkles, and even those hands full of age spots from years of work and toil. It's real, it represents a life lived. And maybe like me, there are grandchildren and great grandchildren that will fondly remember them for those things, 50 and more years after they are gone.