You’re only young once but you can be immature forever. At some point we reach an age we never thought we’d be. And then the decades just keep flying by. There’s some stinking thinking that can be triggered by children who are embarrassed by you, sagging flesh, unflattering photographs of yourself, the tendency to gain weight by merely thinking about certain foods, and those fun little forgetful moments. My personal favorite is telling someone one of my best stories and having them say, “yeah, that’s what you said,” as their eyes glaze over. It’s true that we change as we age. Some ways are inevitable, and some are not. You can think “old” in your twenties. And you can think “young” into your 90s and maybe even beyond. Bob’s 90-something Aunt Mercy gave a spirited performance of classic songs at the Lopez family reunion. I can still see Frederee, my second mom, putting on a CD and dancing a little on her 90th birthday. She kept up with the times. She told her stories of the old days too, but also stayed hip to the here and now.
What are other secrets to staying young at heart? Keep your aliveness and enthusiasm for life. I am not of my kids’ generation and I don’t try to be, but we are inter-generational friends. My life on Facebook isn’t all about them. There’s a “Sue” in there beyond all my roles of wife, mom, grandma, and employee.
I went out last Friday night to hear a friend’s band and I jumped on stage and sang some harmonies. Muscled in, I guess. While off stage I danced, met new people (some in their 20s, others in their 60s), and (perhaps annoyingly) bounced a beach ball around the crowd. I could tell who was old inside and who was young inside. Old people don’t want to play. They want to talk. And they rarely want to listen. Old is not an age. It’s a state of mind. I may have life stages, but I don’t need to make age relevant to my ability to bond with people. Love is ageless.
