When we were young, we couldn’t wait to grow up. Remember how we ’d put on our parents’ old clothes and pretended we were adults. We’d try to act like them or grownups we’d see on TV or the movies. We’d dream of having a home like we lived in, just as soon as we’d get a good job and get married…

Then when we become old, we look longingly to former years. How ironic! Some of us just can’t believe we are actually in our 60s, 70s, or even 80s. Our minds don’t feel that age, so we do the best to not appear that age. Yes, I color my hair now and then and powder my nose and add a little mascara if I’m going out, but it stops there. I have seen enough obvious plastic surgeries through the years that I’m not tempted to take that route. Besides, all people have to do is notice their neck wrinkles and hands. I don’t regret that my arthritic hands have worked years landscaping and gardening, besides years of housework.

I like what a missionary said: “I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of old age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary, so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever. And so, we’ll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we night never want to leave.” J. Robertson McQuilkin.

Carol Burnett once did a skit on her show about an aging actress whose mind stayed in the past. She watched her old movies and tried her best to continue looking young. Because her sight was dimming, she looked frightful with too much makeup and globs of mascara on. She hadn’t accepted the fact that she would one day get older. She hadn’t aged on the silver screen, so she tried not to in real life. Sadly, her fans had bypassed her many years ago for the young, new stars entering Hollywood’s movies and lifestyle.

There are Seasons of Life: Youth, Young Adults, Middle Age, and Older Years (I refuse to call it Old Age because I’ve entered it). In our younger years, we just can’t wait to get older. We get married and have children, and all we talk about is how our children are reaching one milestone after another. Then their kids finally get married. Parents notice an empty house and wonder where the years went…well, they were pushing them through as fast as they could.

Also, they, themselves, are working hard from day to day for retirement. When it finally comes, they think they will still feel like the 20 to 30-year-olds who were in such great health, that they could just about do anything now. But at the end of their 60s, they find their conversations are more about health issues now. Jobs with higher stress levels cause can some not to even reach the retirement years.

After I’ve reached the 70s, it’s easy for me to advise you to slow down, but that’s when we all realize we should have slowed down. After my husband’s and my retirement, we began doing those things we thought we had a lot of time for, like traveling to see our kids, from one part of the country to another, just wherever they decided to live.

But, different health issues began to limit us until we had to stop. Those fun times didn’t last long enough. Now, I enjoy nature in taking time to watch a variety of beautiful birds, and I listen to their soothing songs—well, maybe not the cawing of crows, but they are not as annoying as they used to be. Even though my walking is currently limited, I do go out to the patio to marvel at the lush green grass in the yard and walk around the rock gardens to check on wild blackberries and this year, a surprise for me, a mulberry tree full of sweet, juicy berries!

COVID slowed many lives down. It was hard for many to get used to, but I’ve heard some say they are enjoying more time with their kids and more alone time. More people are reading, and book clubs have become popular again.. (I’m not making light of those who have suffered in varied ways from the disease. But, after all challenging situations, no matter what happens, we learn to go on…somehow… someway).

I continue to praise God for life. I still write this column to share my blessings and to uplift others. I could look at the negatives of life now, but I have choices, and I choose not to dwell on that. I am thankful for my home of over 50 years in the country where I enjoy flowers and trees I’d planted years ago. I am thankful for my craft room, full of possibilities to create things for others,(as I’ve done the past years with a couple of friends, making over 1,000 cards for 6 nursing homes). I love to read and still continue to add a few books to my library. I love to cook, having made 20-30 or so dozen cookies to give away since COVID started. And, I could go on…but my point—and I do have one—is that life is SO SHORT and is over before you’re ready for it. We can’t turn back the clock, so we’ve got to slow down in this fastpaced world and remember to enjoy the world God created for us to live in. If we continue to trash it, we can’t move on to somewhere in Outer Space…yet…God bless!