Aging

Not long ago I was sitting with some of my friend and our kids. Keep in mind that our kids are all in their twenties and thirties. One young lady made some innocent yet mildly derogatory comment about "old" people. She immediately looked at me, turn a little red, and apologized for the remark.

My first thought was, why apologize to me? I'm 55, but far from the oldest person in the room. I didn't get it. But my thoughts then turned to a number of other people.

I remember in eigth grade I sat in front of a guy named Don and behind a girl named Karen. We used to whisper and acrew around and always got into trouble. We ended up becoming great friends. They both died of cancer at age 22.

My son went to school with a great kid named Eric. He was full of life and energy and brought a sense of joy with him where ever he went. He died of cancer at age 18.

There are so many others; young people who were swept away far too prematurely. Some by disease, some by accidents, and of course there are those brave young people in the military who are taken by war.

I sat listening to the young lady speaking, and I thought how lucky I was to be 55. For some reason I was fortunate enough to get through life, at least so far. I married a wonderful woman and raised three fantastic children. Why I was allowed this life and others had their lives snuffed out so early I'll never know. What I do know is that age is not a bad thing. In fact, being given the opportunity to grow and experience all the wonderful things life has to offer is a blessing and a privilage.

I know the young lady who made the comment did so innocently, but nevertheless it illustrated our society's view of growing old. It is seen as a bad, even a terrible thing. I looked at the young woman and said, "You know what? I clearly remember being your age, but you can only hope and pray you get to be my age."

For every young person out there who had the blessing of life snatched away too early, I gladly accept the wows of age. Aging is not to be dreaded, it is not a curse. It is perhaps the great blessing we can receive.