“It’s annoying to get older,” Mary looked disapprovingly at the mirror.
“You wouldn’t want to remain a baby all your life, would you?” She frowned at the absurdity of my answer.
“Not a baby; but in my twenties!”
“I like getting older and hopefully wiser,” I laughed.
“But we’ll be old one day,” she shot back.
“And wiser.”
“Old or dead,” she grimaced. “At what age are we old? 45?”
“Of course not! But then, some people look sad and elderly at 45, some are still youthful at 80.”
She looked at me quizzically. “How can anyone feel young at 80. Pretend?”
“Of course not!! But it would be depressing if we felt as old as we look;” I grinned and added, “I keep my bathroom suitably dark — it makes me look 20 years younger. Try it.”
To tell the truth, I had never felt happier. Less work, fewer responsibilities, fewer deadlines; yet more leisure, more kindness and more time to do what I want. Every morning I get up with a smile, thrilled to be still alive. I walk on the beach, and am delighted when I have walked two miles. I invite dinner guests and if a dish isn’t perfect, who cares? We laugh. Actually, after so many years of cooking, dinners turn out pretty well and pretty effortlessly. Yes, life couldn’t be better.
