So I sit here, reflecting upon a facebook war, if one might call it
such. Robert started it. He said everyone but him was looking old. Robert, you
don’t look as old because you shave your head, ya cheat! Anyway, this isn’t
about attacking anyone, at least not in the serious form. This is about us
getting older. Having a laugh.
We become painfully aware of it with tragedies. We jokingly are
reminded when we see a sports star our own age have his midlife crisis in front
of the cameras as he signs his “Hail, Mary” contract. (Dude, take a page from
the book of Elway and buy an auto dealership and enjoy life. But one must
wonder what Minnesota was thinking. Isn’t this where Steve Young retreated, as
well?)
Robert’s comments were not the only reason this has been on my mind of
late. Truth be told, we are not old. I can’t be. I don’t shave my head like
some, and I don’t invest in “Just For Men” like others, but I have less gray
today than I did at the 10-year reunion, (though seriously, I have no idea who
is using. Care to confess? About using JFM?)
Last month, we had our nieces from Albq visiting us for a few weeks.
IT’s always a blast having them here with us. Well maybe not this time. My
Candice said, “Uncle Steve, you’re old!” Thanks, Lil Princess. Why do I call
you my “favorite niece” again?!
That’s not it alone. There is more. There is a Shell Food Mart where I
enjoy the best tap Dr. Pepper around. Everyone there knows me. Everyone there
really doesn’t know me, I learned. One of the girls working there said, “I have
been meaning to ask you: those boys that occasionally come in with you, are
they your grandchildren?”
OUCH!! THAT HURT! OUCH!! Still smarting over that. I went back to talk
with one of the few there that I have known going on years. “Actually, we all
thought that they were your grandsons.” Did I say, “OUCH!”?
So then we go off to a store in Flagstaff. Winslow is limited on where
one goes to buy clothes for my SONS. Walmart. Fantastic
selection of girls’ clothing. (Yeah we lack the selection for boys.) So back to
the store in Flagstaff. We had someone at the register ringing up our
purchase. He looked like he was 50-ish. “Sir,
I must compliment you on your well-behaved grandsons.” Say it with me: “OUCH!”
Being a preacher, I usually can’t keep my mouth shut. I thought I
would share these events with my congregation. Since the mean age of the
congregation is 60, AFTER we include my family’s ages, I thought I would be
told, “Preacher, you don’t look old.” (Hey, I wanted some ego boosting.)
“Gramps! That is too funny!” Hey! Again, my favorite chorus of this
note: (Say it with me.) OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Seeing this 80 year old lady calling
ME: “Gramps”. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!
I thought I would get sympathy from my dad since he called to let me
know he misses his grandchildren who do not live in Yuma. Nope! Not gonna
happen. HE had a hoot. We got to talking about the whole event.
Until my friend Kevin moved to 26th Place, my dad was the
oldest dad around. Seriously, he was. I didn’t want to be a senior citizen at
my boys’ graduations. I got married earlier. But we could not have children
until… Well, I am going to be a senior citizen at my kids’ graduations. Oh
well.
The point of these funnies, you must ask? Aging. I really don’t feel
old. I don’t see much differences from the pictures of the 20 year reunion from
what I saw at the 10 year reunion. I even still remember Uncle Gene’s Black 40
party. HE still looks the same.
Oh yeah, back on aging. I remember when I was younger. I was in
college. I wondered why people made a big deal about aging. I thought, “just
embrace it, move on.” Now I am there, seeing myself, forcing myself to embrace the
fact that I may not be as young as I used to be. (Though I can still walk a 15
minute mile and run it in 7. And I am now 7” taller than I was at high school
graduation.)
One might say, “Steven, you are failing to make your point.” Yeah, I
know. I am having fun rambling. I used to ramble too much on Sunday morning, so
I have to have an outlet for it, so here we are. What was I saying?
Oh yeah, aging. I am… Well I did have a point that I was in the process
of making in the long drive of it all. But I got lost. Sorry about that. Enjoy
this time & thanks for reading! Gramps Steve
