One of the worst things about getting old is not being able to jump. It’s not like she needs to jump or even wants to. But it’s just one more thing that she has to leave behind. Some days she’s ok with it and some days she really hates it. For the most part she’s in denial, looking in the mirror without her glasses, trying to find that 40 or 50 year old that had so much fun. That side of this aging thing, the mostly good side, is the self delusion: the ability to see what she wants to see and turn a blind eye to the rest.
But then she looks across the breakfast table and sees the son who’s creeping up on 50 and the fantasy falls apart. His choices, good or bad, are hers as well. She worries, that like his mother, he won’t take care of himself until it’s too late. Until ignoring the high blood pressure, eating the wrong foods, and not getting the right kind of exercise takes its toll. Like it or not, their boats are tied together. They will sink or swim in tandem. If it were in her power to do it all over again, maybe she would make different choices. But, having come to this place, having come this far, she cannot, will not, must not give up.
But then she looks across the breakfast table and sees the son who’s creeping up on 50 and the fantasy falls apart. His choices, good or bad, are hers as well. She worries, that like his mother, he won’t take care of himself until it’s too late. Until ignoring the high blood pressure, eating the wrong foods, and not getting the right kind of exercise takes its toll. Like it or not, their boats are tied together. They will sink or swim in tandem. If it were in her power to do it all over again, maybe she would make different choices. But, having come to this place, having come this far, she cannot, will not, must not give up.
2 comments:
Good show! I like this piece even better, 2nd time around, in print...thanks, (and I do think this is entirely open to speculation.)Fred
Well, let the spec begin :>)
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