Whoever decided small critters were good for older people?
When I bent down to pick up the littlest dog during the morning rush, something in my left lower back went awry.
After I’d deposited the oldest grand-girl at the school curb and returned home, I cranked the shower up hotter than hot and let the water pound on that spot right above my left hip while I hung upper body down, slightly tilted to the right, and arched my back like a cat.
Don’t try to picture that.
Don’t even.
When the water ran cold and the fog hung heavy, I felt my way out of the bathroom into the kitchen where I rifled through the drawer for ibuprofen. I tipped three pills into my palm, dropped one, and then crawled around on the floor to find it before a pup beat me to it. I dusted it off and swallowed all three with a gulp of cold coffee.
Back in front of the mirror, I saw my mother looking at me. There was a bruise on my shoulder. I don’t know where that came from. And the black warty thing on my neck, the one my doctor blasted with nitrogen a couple years back, is back. I touch it with my index finger (what if it turns out to be cancer?) and notice the web of wrinkles on the back of my hand. I squeeze four fingers together with the other five and decide the tenting rises like a couple bird’s feet.
Fact: I’m not a spring chicken any more.
I’m feeling my age, and time hums by, and I’m growing old(er).
Grab a glass of lemonade or sweet tea and join me today under Diane Bailey’s magnolia for the rest of this story.
In the stillness,
Sandy
P.S. Can I direct your attention to my sidebar where I’m hosting an online party through Vi Bella Jewelry in order to return to Haiti in December to love on those kids in the orphan village? I would be most grateful.
Love you!
🙂
Hello Old Lady. I’m still watching you. Keep moving, shaking and let those bones crack away. It’s the music of wisdom I need to hear as I step over the threshold of the next stage of LIVING. Love you Sandy.
Ahhh, Lorretta. I’m just trying not to trip and fall down too hard. But if you hear music, that makes me dance. 😀 xo
A delightful 90-year-old in our congregation once responded to my hubby’s greeting by saying, “I’m just fine, thanks, but my body’s wearing out.” She was sidelined by a broken hip and a series of problems but always managed to keep her cheerful demeanour. She claimed youthfulness was an attitude, not a stage in life. I think she may have been right. Some days, as I contemplate my age and limitations I feel just plain old; other days there’s a lilt and lightness and my chronological age seems meaningless. 🙂
I want to be like her–still on the bench cheering even if I can’t play the game for a season.
The doc and I ran to the beach a week and half after Daddy was sent to maintenance treatment. I was desperate to get away and Luci’s Ascent book went with me. I loved it. It was good medicine for my weary heart, better than ibuprofen. Sorry about your back. Keep showering and stretching and I will try not to picture it 🙂
The back is much better, thanks Dea. And I always say good words are the best medicine. Well, I don’t always say that–but I will now. 🙂
So glad you had that little escape.
man, don’t I know. Sigh. You may be slowly wearing down, Sandy. But you will never wear out. Never.
I sure hope not, Diana! I don’t have time for that. My to-do-before-I-die list is way too long.
I have been pondering this concept of living purposefully rather than regretfully. I love to listen to the stories of others, their adventures and opportunities but somewhere I have allowed a seed of discontent to fester and cause a longing for a revisit of time. Not that I want to be the person before today, but because I want the time to travel and see the things I never had a chance to… and write from the start. Your post encouraged me because my writing came later in life, when experience, not education, gave me the quill to dip into life’s ink well. Thank you for sharing, today, as you have encouraged me and been a source of answered prayer.
Praying for healing and quiet rest for you.
Blessings,
Dawn
“. . . when experience, not education, gave me the quill to dip into life’s ink well.” I love that phrase.
I’m glad these words encouraged you, Dawn. And I’m glad you took the time to comment. You’ve encouraged me today.
Oh, how I love your wacky ‘take’ on the ageing of the body, Sandra. I could tell a very funny story regarding bare breasts and the cold bathroom vanity counter, but maybe I’ll save that for another day.
When I fall into those depressing moments about the passage of time and the wasted years I’ve accumulated, I will think of this post. I am a ‘young’ 57; in fact, my name means ‘youthful’, and I certainly do not feel my age. Don’t usually ‘act’ my age, either. That’s why the aches and pains have a tendency to frustrate me. The sudden ‘krick’ in the lower back? Was just there yesterday, myself.
But I love the quotes you site, and have written them in my ‘Favourite Quotes’ Journal. Under the heading ‘Ageing…’ I want so much to finish well the race marked out before me. Your words have been such an encouragement today. Thank you.
Oh, dear Jillie. I’m glad I’m not in this wacky season of life alone. We run the race together.
So you know I’ll be waiting for another day to hear your story. 🙂
Here’s to staying young in heart, mind, and spirit!