I don’t remember much about turning ten other than being excited that my age was now double digits.

And of course, three more years to thirteen.

WISDOM? Well, everyone knows that teenagers know everything!  

Twenty?  

I cried.

I felt like twenty was in the middle of nowhere.  

I loved being a teenager and at twenty I was kicked outta that club but still not old enough to be considered an adult. 

Just kinda suspended for a year, up in the air…..nowhere.

WISDOM? I had all the answers!

Thirty?

That was a busy time.  

I had four daughters, a large house to keep in perfect condition at all times  (my neurosis) and I was in college.  

Oh and we didn’t do fast food or take-out.

I cooked from scratch every night.

My BFF during those nursing school years was my crock-pot.

I thought my girls were all on the right track.

I thought I was doing a good job being a wife and mom.

It was crazy busy but it filled my heart.

It was a good time, I have warm memories.

WISDOM? Questions were beginning to creep in.

Forty?

That was a tough one.

It started out horrible.

It couldn’t have been much worse.

My entire world as I knew it crumbled into teeny bits that couldn’t be put back together.

We moved to California, a dream come true.

Within a month, my then-husband had a heart attack and a 5-way bypass.

Enter FEAR.  

He hadn’t found a job yet and my medical insurance hadn’t kicked in yet.

Enter HUGE FINANCIAL DEBT.

It took almost a year for him to recover and by then, nothing felt the same.

Enter DEPRESSION.

I lost my respect for him first when I found he was still smoking and drinking way too much alcohol.

And then my love for him died.

Enter DIVORCE.

I’d never been alone before, I was terrified. 

I figured I’d live in a little apartment with a cat, work, and live my life around my daughters and their families.

Maybe have a man friend that I could go to the movies with and maybe out to dinner BUT that’s where the friendship would stop….right there at the good night door! 

I was DONE.

Enter OLD HIGH SCHOOL BOYFRIEND!!!!!

The rest of my forties were like a dream.

Even my over-the-top imagination could not have envisioned how much my life would change. 

He was every love song I ever listened to, every romantic movie I ever got lost in and every romance novel I ever read, all rolled up into one amazing man.

So, my forties began on a really bad note but WOW, they got hot!!!!!

WISDOM? I was beginning to interpret things much differently than I ever had.

Fifty?

Still a good time.

On top of “the hundred hill.”

Still crazy in love.

We moved to the Monterey Peninsula and lived one long block down from a most beautiful part of the Pacific Ocean, Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove.

Had lots of visits from family and friends, far and near.

We watched hundreds of beautiful sunsets and immersed ourselves in ocean life.

WISDOM?  Oh my gosh, a calm had entered and I was beginning to see the light.

Sixty?

Noticing changes but doin’ OK.

Vision not so good, hearing not so good, hair kinda thinning out and turning a different kind of “blonde”….let’s call it platinum.

Eating less but gaining more.

Seemed to be making more doctor appointments than ever before.

And, “the fire”…..sadly it was cooling down.

I became lonely for my girls and grandchildren and we moved back to Sac.

WISDOM?  I’m FULL of it.  I’ve arrived.  I get it.

Seventy?

Went to bed one night and I was sixty nine.

Woke up and I was seventy!

Aches & pains take center stage.

Can’t reach as high, can’t bend as low and hey, I used to be taller than this.

More doctor’s visits, more new diagnosis, more prescription medications.

Weigh pretty much the same but things have kinda fallen out of place.

Look in the mirror and shudder…..who is that?

New hair-do and new make-up but nothing changes.

Hair and make up fussing used to take me a good hour…..I now have it all down to ten minutes.  

My theory?

I can sit in front of a mirror and fool with hair and face for an hour and when I’ve finished, I look like I’m in my seventies or I can spend ten minutes and look the same.

Now, IF I could spend an hour and end up looking YOUNGER well, then that would be another story but, when you’re in your seventies…..what’s younger? 

Everything!

So IF I fooled in front of a mirror and walked away looking…..oh say fifty nine or even sixty well…..OK, but to be seventy four and be able to spiff myself up to looking like seventy?  

Never mind!

AND…..I’m thinkin’ if you’re where I’m at, you know what I’m sayin’!

Mail arrives addressed to me about hearing aids, glasses & contacts, dentures & implants, wigs and hair pieces and the worse…..funeral arrangements and grave sites.  

Neptune Society will cremate for cheap and oh donating my body to science is free!

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHY ARE THEY SENDING THIS STUFF TO ME?

Because…..

SEVENTY IS OLD, that’s why!

Posts about uncluttering pop up on my computer.  

Be considerate of your kids it says.  

Don’t make them have to handle all that you leave behind.  

UNCLUTTER NOW!

You have things you love? 

Well, the post suggests you take a photo of them and then let go. 

Less for your kids to have to deal with.

For the most part, nobody wants your stuff it says.

Nobody wants my stuff?

I WANT MY STUFF!

I sit at my computer and think for a long time…..about CLUTTER.

What should I do?

I get up and walk from room to room and look around.

OK, I’ll do it…..I’ll unclutter.

I’ll do a room at a time and begin with the kitchen.

I take the salt and pepper shaker off the stove top and put them in the cupboard.  THERE!

OK wait, there’s one more thing….the genie lamp.  

It’s on my counter.  

I’ve been carrying it around for years waiting for that damn genie to pop out and grant all my wishes.

Out it goes.

I can’t even remember those wishes anyways.

There ARE good things to say about being old and being here…..I guess!

But, most of them are said by younger people…..just wait!

I used to have a plaque that hung on my office wall when I worked with “the elderly” (old people).

It said something like we should never complain about being old, it’s a privilege denied to many.

That’s true…..I guess!

There IS a wonderful freedom that does come with aging.  

We don’t have to play the games anymore.  

We can call it how we see it…..if we want.

Not much of anything we HAVE to do if we don’t want to.

Any intimidation that we once had is pretty much gone.

Oh and one of my favorite parts?  

Being held responsible for things?

Out the door with that one using two little words…..I FORGOT!

  

WISDOM?  I’m overflowing.  I have answers but hey…..nobody’s listening!!