I just got this email from my sister & thought it was sweet to share:

> Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
>
>
> I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have
> always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body,
> the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am
> taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like
> my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.
>
> I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving
> family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've
> become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become
> my own friend.
>
> I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making
> my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but
> looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be
> messy, to be extravagant.
>
>
> I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before
> they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
>
> Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until
> 4 AM and sleep until noon?
>
>
> I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and
> if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
>
> I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging
> body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to,
> despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
> They, too, will get old.
>
> I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just
> as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important
> things..
>
> Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not
> break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when
> somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what
> give us strength and
> understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
> sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
>
> I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning
> gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep
> grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died
> before their hair could turn silver.
>
> As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about
> what other people think. I don'tquestion myself anymore. I've even
> earned the right to be wrong.
>
> So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I
> like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but
> while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have
> been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every
> single day. (If I feel like it)

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I'll let my mom read this! She just turned 73 last week. Thanks!

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Thanks for sharing.