On Growing old

A friend forwarded this story to me a few weeks ago, and I thought you might enjoy this. It is actually a letter from an old woman about the five men of her life:

I have become a little older since I last saw you, and a few changes have come into my life since then. I am seeing five gentlemen every day. As soon as I wake up, Mr. Power helps me out of bed every morning. His first name is Will. That’s right, Mr. Will Power. Then I go see the next man in my life who really gives me great relief. His name of course is John.

Then Charlie Horse comes along and when he is here, he takes a lot of time and attention. When Charlie Horse leaves, Mr. Ritis shows up and stays the rest of the day. I don’t’ really like Mr. Ritis, you know, his full name is Arthur Ritis. He does not like to stay in one place very long so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a busy day, I’m really tired and glad to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life! I like his scent and he makes me feel cool. These are the five men I have to live with everyday of my life now that I have grown older.

By the way, the preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him, “Oh, I do that all the time. Whether I am in the parlor, the kitchen, upstairs, or down in the basement, I ask myself –What am I here after?”

Another year has passed, then a new one. I am year older, and so you!

We don’t want to contemplate the issue of growing old because we all want to stay young. No wonder that the cosmetics and health supplement industries are among the most lucrative businesses in the world. Come any recession, these industries remain stable –because we all use their products in order to look young and possibly stretch our life (health) a year longer. However, there is no stopping with aging. We will grow old, and growing old can be done gracefully like that old woman, with humor and a positive disposition in life.