When? he asked. When does middle age end and old age begin?

"When" he asked, " when does middle age end and old age begin?"

It took awhile to recover from his question.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I don't remember growing older . . .

I remember him from the Friday morning play group.

A tiny boy my mother would have called sturdy. He toddled about the musty church basement brought by his care giver and trailed by his adoring older sister Sarah, Sarah with the Sparkly Eyes as she was dubbed by my eldest- to differentiate her from all the lesser Sarah's of the preschool and primary galaxy.
Even then, his face was sprinkled with sun kisses. He laughed easily and made me smile.

A few years later I was his "morning mom" and he and my younger son, for a time, became fast friends. His silly sense of humor, flashes of brilliance and mischievousness made the mornings race past as we waited for kindergarten. The after school antics of the four kids made the arsenic hour a foreign concept.


Time passed and before and after school care was no longer a requirement, but for a time I was Tic Tac to his Beaver group. Then one day I stopped in at my favourite dry cleaners and I was personally greeted by a young man with side burns and the unmistakable sun kissed smile- my own children had matured but how was this possible?

A few chance encounters with his parents kept me aware of his, and his sister's, travels and then this weekend again I bumped into them. "Jamie is in London" they said so casually. "He decided to get his Law degree."

Well done Munchkin! I can't believe it has been that long since you ate apple wedges at my table. I am very proud of you, as your own parents must be.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Age Gap

Is there anything so wonderful as sex on a Sunday afternoon?
OH.You.Don't.Know.
You have children

Friday, August 8, 2008

Mid Century

Mid century , mid century R-I-G-H-T! The '50's

I have been chuckling over this phrase for a year or so. It just popped into my mind a few minutes ago and I had time to Google it - so this century and came up with 10,900,000 hits so obviously it's seen a lot of usage

Still it strikes me as funny. My kid bought a mid century home recently. He's leaning towards mid century decor as well. Hmmmm obviously if you admire it you weren't there or you weren't aware.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Doh, a Dear

Marg was the first one to call me Dear. I mean the first in my adult life other than my Grandmother and Aunt. I was taken back by it but Marg lived with her elderly parents at the time in one of those role reversal situations that happens to single women of a certain age, AND she was and is my contemporary or at least close enough that it no longer matters.

Then there was a "shop girl" by that I mean a woman who has chosen or had chosen for her. a life in retail. Familiarity can be expected from someone who has just seen you in your skivies.And the "odd waitress" but some of her customers were "Honey" so Dear didn't seem so bad.

The other day it was one of the managers at work who resolved a problem for me as is his job. "there you go Dear" he said. Bite me - thought I as I smiled a benign smile.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

America

Some factoids:

One American turns 62 every seven seconds.

In Canada people 45-64 comprise 25% of the population and woman 55-59 years of age are 6.2%

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Some times it just smacks you in the face-

being old I mean.

Winter has been pretty long this year,long and nasty.
Work has been unusually brutal.

I was off work a little early one day recently. The afternoon sun was warm. The sky was clear blue, bright. My plans for a quick walk home had been thwarted by the sale signs across the road which had beckoned me back inside. I immediately found an unusually good bargain- a gift for a friend. I emerged quickly glad to be outside again and feeling munificent and happy.Ready to pepstep home with energy and vigour the weak spring sun warming my smile, the slight breeze wresting the song from my soul

The city bus had just pulled away from the stop. A generation of middle school students were taking leave of each other. They filled the air with greetings and leave takings; curses and threats. A body went into a snowbank;some ice was crushed under heel; snow balls and ice chunks flew through the air. I stood back and waited for them to pass.

"Hey Jerk- let the old lady pass " someone called

Saturday, March 15, 2008

It took awhile to recover from his question.

Did he see me as old? - well I knew the answer to that yes,yes he did.

Had I asked him he would have admitted to it, I have no doubt. But I knew, the signs were there.
The adolescent snarl I was occasionally the recipent of,
the dismissive attitude I encountered from time to time that I had previously considered as part of his problem of immaturity- not of my old age
and then the true key to my understanding; when the considerations of his immaturity were cast aside, he often prefaced our conversations about everyday life, experiences and personal philosophy with examples given to him by his grandparents. Initially I saw this as evidence of his close retaionship with his granparents but came to realize he saw me in the same light as his grandparents and was introducing a commonality of experience to our conversation. OUCH!