Cleveland Memories

What's it like to get older? This is my birthday month so I'm very aware that I'm going to be another year older. First of all, I don't enjoy the aches and pains that come with age. This isn't fun. Sometimes, I wish my Mother had warned me about this but she never complained. She suffered in silence. Well, I'm going to warn you. My Dad used to say, "growing old is the pits!"

I understand this saying now. However, there's the bright side of getting older. Let me explain....

Having raised my family, it's wonderful to be able to come and go as I please. I still get up by 7:30 a.m. but I can take my time reading the paper, getting ready for the day and decide what I want to accomplish. At 10:00 a.m. I get ready for the pool and spend about 1 1/2 hours exercising with my friends. This is my time to take care of myself and help my muscles stay in shape. I have to admit, I don't have as many aches and pains as I did 3 years ago.

I also enjoy reaping the blessings of Motherhood. As parents, we spent many hours teaching, training and having fun as a family. We are a close family and love being together. Being a Grandmother is wonderful and I enjoy it so much. One of my Grand-daughters (Paige) said to her parents the other day...."I wish everyone had a Grandma Julie." This really made my day and certainly made growing older a blessing.

Oh yes, I do enjoy my afternoon naps every day too. I learned this from my Mother. It rejuvenates me for the rest of the day.

Don and I enjoy doing things together too. We eat out about 3 times a week and find this fun. We enjoy going to Church together and having the same spiritual goals. We are best friends and feel so blessed Don's able to have quality of life. We don't know how long this will last but we make the most of every minute. One thing I know......life is always changing. That is what makes it so interesting.

I do want to grow old gracefully. This is very important to me. No one is left behind! Every time I'm a year older so does everyone else become a year older. This earth life is just a blink in eternity. I want to make the most of every minute and endure to the end. The here after is something to look forward to and I hope that I will look back on my life and feel like I made the most of it.