During my young adult years, I remember going with my bestie to watch Titanic on the big screen. We all knew the ending but I still found myself hoping the ship wouldn't sink! Mascara smeared and napkins damp with tears at show's end, my friend and I decided we had to see it again--immediately. Yes, back then I had the time to sit for over 6 hours during the course of a Saturday afternoon and evening to ride on an emotional roller coaster, rocked to crocodile tears by Celine Dion's haunting voice. Climbing to the top when Rose and Jack found love and plummeting to sobs when Jack eerily descended into the cold abyss of the deep sea. WHY COULDN'T ROSE JUST MOVE OVER? Why didn't Leo crawl on top the makeshift raft? I wanted to plunge in after him as he sunk off screen.
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| http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com |
Still a fan today, I was thrilled when I heard Winslet would play the role of Jeanine. I sat mesmerized by her performance. While watching her, the evil antagonist, casually order the death of Tris, my movie-watching trance was broken. I noticed something. Fine, very fine, lines around her stern facial expression. Kate is glamorous and elegant and classy, so it is with the utmost sincerity that I say she is aging beautifully. And barely--she doesn't look much older than she did seventeen years ago. However, I did notice that she is no longer that girl that played in Titanic. And then came the realization that I too, am aging!
Of course, age is relative, right? My Nana who is 104 years young says that I'm a "spring chicken." My thirteen-year-old daughter tells me I'm old and my sixty plus year-old father says to "get over it" and "quit worrying about age." He has said before, "Beats the alternative!" I guess he's right--AGE BEATS GRAVE!
Over margaritas and chips and salsa, Kristi and I discussed growing older at length one afternoon during happy hour. She and I will have been friends for twenty years this coming September. After taking a sip from the salt rimmed glass, she said, "I still feel and think the same way I did in my early twenties. In my head nothing has changed."
"Would you like to hear something really depressing?" I retort, "My Nana said the same thing not too long ago, you know, back when she was younger....around 100! She said inside her mind her perception was not unlike when she was twenty-two!" (Taylor Swift said it best. #feelingtwentytwo)
"Oh my gosh! That is depressing," Kristi remarked.
If you're wondering if you are on the other side of the journey, ask yourself if the following applies:
You live with gratitude. You thank the good Lord for your abundant blessings. You thank God for that steaming cup of java because some living in this world consider coffee a luxury. You laugh at Al Roker's corny jokes and appreciate Matt Lauer's dedication. You thank your co-workers for their kindness. You hug your child because you get to witness their triumphs. You live for the moments: The snapshots that inspire, the scenes that play on once the reel has stopped. You hope that you age half as well as Kate Winslet and you acknowledge that although the number climbs, although the grey hair multiplies, and although the fine lines turn to wrinkles, you were given a part to play. When the Director calls it a wrap, you know that you did your best; that you loved your children, spouse, and family; you served your community; you were a friend; you danced; you celebrated; you sang; you smiled; you lived.
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| http://starryeyedglamour.blogspot.com/ |
Over margaritas and chips and salsa, Kristi and I discussed growing older at length one afternoon during happy hour. She and I will have been friends for twenty years this coming September. After taking a sip from the salt rimmed glass, she said, "I still feel and think the same way I did in my early twenties. In my head nothing has changed."
"Would you like to hear something really depressing?" I retort, "My Nana said the same thing not too long ago, you know, back when she was younger....around 100! She said inside her mind her perception was not unlike when she was twenty-two!" (Taylor Swift said it best. #feelingtwentytwo)
"Oh my gosh! That is depressing," Kristi remarked.
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| Myself and Kristi-twenty years and counting! |
- A teenager you know rattles off the names of their favorite bands and you have NO idea who they are! (The Neighborhood is the community in which you live, right?)
- You put on an article of clothing only to realize that you bought it over five years ago! (Your stylish, younger friend stands beside you wearing a fashionable piko shirt and gold wedges creating the foil character to your bland, boring ensemble.)
- You use a phrase and your child tells you not to say it. (Either because they don't want an old fogy like yourself using their expressions or because the word "rad" has been missing from common vernacular since the early nineties!)
- You begin the latest fad diet and lose 1-2 pounds instead of the 5 you would have lost ten years ago.
- Chin hair. Even worse--grey chin hair!
- The lady at the make-up counter tells you to try full coverage foundation.
- You go out with friends and the D.J. calls a Nelly song an oldie! He later calls Salt-n-Peppa's "Push It" a classic!
- You walk into a bar and overhear a younger guy say that the place has turned into Courgarville.
- At the same bar you begin giving unsolicited advice to a twenty-something whose boyfriend just broke up with her.
- You begin asking yourself if THIS is all there is. You realize your grandiose dreams are slipping further away and the life you live, the life you've chosen, may be all you ever know.
You live with gratitude. You thank the good Lord for your abundant blessings. You thank God for that steaming cup of java because some living in this world consider coffee a luxury. You laugh at Al Roker's corny jokes and appreciate Matt Lauer's dedication. You thank your co-workers for their kindness. You hug your child because you get to witness their triumphs. You live for the moments: The snapshots that inspire, the scenes that play on once the reel has stopped. You hope that you age half as well as Kate Winslet and you acknowledge that although the number climbs, although the grey hair multiplies, and although the fine lines turn to wrinkles, you were given a part to play. When the Director calls it a wrap, you know that you did your best; that you loved your children, spouse, and family; you served your community; you were a friend; you danced; you celebrated; you sang; you smiled; you lived.
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