Time
I've never felt old.
Not when the first gray hair emerged.
Not when the creases of my smile turned permanent.
Not when my daughters turned 18 and 20, or even 25 and 27.
Not when I wake up with an ache or pain here and there ...
Nor when I have to put on glasses to read the not-so-small-print ...
Nor when I have to say "What?" or "Huh?" or "Eh?" 50 to 100 times a day, even with my hearing aids in ...
Not even when I woke up one morning and realized both my parents have passed away, ending a generation in our family forever, leaving me an orphan.
I have a photograph of me taken eons ago, probably age 3 or 4.
My devilish smirk, brown eyes ablaze taking a break from a picnic lunch at Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin, where quartzite bluffs and ridges held off the last Ice Age glaciers.
I still see the world through those same bright eyes, with childlike wonder.
So many things to see …
To touch …
To hear …
And, to learn.
I jump into bed each night anxious for the future.
I can’t wait to find out what's next, what tomorrow holds.
They say only the good die young.
I say the good feel forever young when they die.
They say life is too short.
I say life is too long not to savor the simple moments.
They say a lot of things that I just don't understand.
My view of life appears to be so totally different from “them.”
I'm OK with that. It's their loss.
The Greatest Generation. Baby Boomers. Gen X. Millennials. Gen Z.
We're all a lot more alike than different.
We all have been given one opportunity to make the most of our time here.
Each of us have forged a unique path of life experiences no matter how often we’ve surrendered to the “theys” and their proclamations.
Sometime, somewhere along the way, we each make our stand, we leave our mark.
We chart our individual course.
For some, it takes a jolt — a wake-up call that ignites change.
For some, the metamorphosis flows naturally.
Like a butterfly spreading its wings for the first time
Or gliding in the breeze
Or pollinating its last flower
It has no concept of old or young, past or present.
Time is life’s greatest gift.
I’ve never felt old