Ode to the 60s My face doest look the same it did ten years ago, never mind thirty. When I look in the mirror I am startled by the portly woman that looks back. Every day I revisit my acquaintance with the fatter, rounder me. Spanxs becoming my second skin. Over the past ten years I probably have bought every pill that Home Shopping Network or the Internet had claimed to stem the tide of sixties. At the same time my waistline is betraying me, so goes my mouth. I say what I think. Sometimes even when it is a bit less than kind. A three year old has nothing on my thought process. Thought in.... Comment out. At times it is freeing but mostly to the chagrin of my family, just embarrassing. The sixties are the years where you realize that many of the big things you do in your life may be the last time you have the chance. You are reminded with each passing of a family member, friend, neighbor and classmate. Good health and simply waking up in the morning have become a valuable commodity, a gift. The sixties leave you hoping against hope that you live long enough to see the little grandchild in you arms become the person he or she will ultimately be. Its Knowing that death and taxes are inevitable but cheating death becomes far more important than cheating on your taxes. You learn to swallow a lot of pills in the morning. You lick your lips when you pass the Ensure at CVS Pharmacy. What used to be the nightly Flintstones Vitamin has become a small Lazy Susan filled with Vitamin B, C, D, E, Ginkgo Bulba, glycosene, Metimucile and gluten free probiotics. The sixties do allow for looking backwards and realizing that your children and grandchildren ARE your opus and what you did for a career while important or even fulfilling, is far less important than you thought it was at 30. The sixties can be a seesaw of dealing with the needs or loss of your parents and a calling to walk through fire for your own children when their times are tough or burdens are too much to endure alone. Its a time when your family tree appears much thinner on the top. A time when you remind your children who are still somewhat competitive for your attention that they must find their way with each other because soon it will be all that they have. The Sixtes are also wonderful. IF you are lucky enough, there is time. Time with your spouse where you are freed from the burned of every day care, every day work, and by the finances that you always thought were impossible to amass when you were young and fearless. Suddenly free of jealousy, you realize what holds you both together is less about the frequency of those ol night moves or your waistline and more about the level of personal satisfaction that comes from surviving the long and winding road that is your relationship. Sixties can bring about new and perplexing behaviors such as selfishness. You buy things that please you or benefit you in some way that has nothing to do with your children. Houses are replaced by condos, neighborhoods by senior communities. New friends and activities replace those that youve lost along with the routine of phone calls and Sunday dinner. And its OK. Its alright for our kids to have their own life and for us to go on with ours. It is still unnerving to think you have to get on a plane to see them instead of the car. All in all, the sixties is not a bad place to be. It is the ultimate decade of adventures. Exploring the unknown of retirement, preparing yourself or at least trying to outsmart all the changes life brings. Though every decade must have its own taste of bittersweet, it will be for all that you have still ahead and all that you will leave behind.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 22:09:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015