Quote Originally Posted by Trek420 View Post
It's not being carded, looking better, that's all good but I want to be able to do what I want to do for as long as I want to do it and enjoy life as long as possible. Sure if disability or injury was the case that's different but I see no reason I can't run to find my car at 54, 64 ..... etc.

Forgetting which street I parked, that's another thread
I couldn't agree more! I may weigh more now than I did when I gave birth to both my children, have hair growing places it shouldn't, spots on my hands that weren't there before, and have 10 pair of "cheaters" to see anything up close (and still can't find where I left them) but I can ride 100 miles on a bike, have finished a triathlon, and am about to do a half-marathon. That feels wonderful and I'm not about to stop until I absolutely have to. I wear my hair in an easy style, wear comfortable shoes, don't shave my legs as often as I used to, hardly ever paint my nails anymore and have thrown my pantyhose away! Aging has been liberating for me and life is good! I love the poem "Warning: I Will Wear Purple."

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples' gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickles for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

by Jenny Joseph