Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

This week, on October 8, 2009, I turned 76 years old. I am truly, honestly and completely a senior citizen. Even I think I am one! Oh, my! Wonder how I am supposed to feel: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? I believe I’ll just have a look at me through my 76 year old eyes and take an inventory. That way, maybe (just maybe, mind you) I’ll find out how I’m supposed to ‘be’ and ‘feel’.

Physically: Yes, I have 2 artificial knees, but I walk…really walk (fast and far says her daughter) most everyday. Ol’ arthritis dwells within me, in various and sundry places—well, really most everywhere he can get! Got thinning bones…so what? I’m doing what I can for that. I wash, iron (yep! I still iron most everything), clean house make many, many trips up and down the stairs, do a little (very little) yard work, and oh…yes! I shop some. Not bad, I guess. I rode a bicycle with my great-grandchildren last year. Not very far, mind you, but I rode that bike! So, for someone my age, I suppose I would earn a passing grade.

Mentally: I forget. I put things away so I’ll know where they are and forget where I put them. I go upstairs for something, see something else that needs to be done and forget why I went upstairs. I still read a lot, do games on the computer, watch TV (but that doesn’t take mental dexterity, does it?) and do crossword puzzles…so? I’m not as quick with the wisecracks as I once was. I cannot memorize things like I used to. That is where I am. Oh! Yes! I certainly am not up to Sean and Malcolm (great-grandsons) on the ‘Brain Age’ game, but since I received my very own Nintendo DS for my birthday, along with the game, ‘Brain Age’, I bet I’ll catch up quickly!

Emotionally: Let me see…I find myself a bit sad more these days. Friends are ill, and some have gone home to Heaven. I am the like the older generations past, I find that I despair for the world. Seems to me like it is ‘going to hell in a hand- basket.’ I heard that when I was young. The old folks felt the same way back then. I still laugh a lot. I see funny things every day. Our family is fun. I enjoy a good ‘chick flick’ as well as mystery and action/adventure movies. I am not yet immune to the charms of leading men like Mark Harmon, Pierce Brosnon, etc. Music still moves me. I love Gospel and 40’s music. I find my feet tapping in time to Glenn Miller’s “String of Pearls” and when Frankie croons, my 15 year old self ‘swoons’ still. Just a little like I did so long ago.

Spiritually: Most important, my relationship with my Lord. We grow much closer with every passing day. As I reflect over the past, I can see His Guiding and sadly, I see times when I was going my own way. For those times, I know I’m forgiven. You know, it’s true; Life in Christ is a growing life. It develops. How ‘bout that? 76 and growing! I feel it. I know that "I’m not what I want to be, not what I’m gonna be, but Thank God, I’m not what I was." My Lord still wants to use me and I still have the desire to be used.

The BEST! Our marriage: After 57+ years it is better than ever. Deeper! Stronger! I guess that saying about ‘Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be’ is true. Aches, pains, cancer, arthritis, surgeries, heart issues, a general slowing down…all this we experience together and that is a Good Thing. Goodness, what I though was love (and it was love) so many years ago is so much less than what love has grown to be today.

What is Love? Love is Bobbie and me.

Love is the air we breathe. The arms that hold, the eyes that reflect each other, the concern for welfare of each, tenderness of touch, shared memories and prayers, family that cares, the private times, the hands held, lips that kiss. Years of all of this and more. That is what Love is for me.

Okay! So I’m 76! I’m still a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend…still me!

So, I happily say to myself, “Happy Birthday, Charlotte!”