Thoughts to Ponder….on Aging

A dear friend of mind from the Netherlands recently wrote me a long letter. She caught me up on the happenings of her life, along with some difficulties of aging. She then asked, “How do you feel about getting older?” I answered, “You asked how I feel about growing older….my answer is it really sucks!!!”

I had (another!) birthday this week and have pondered aging. I decided to share my random thoughts on the subject.

Happiness is a choice. I heard this for years before I finally got it and it is so true.

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

I miss my face.

Listen to your elders…they really do know more than you and have great stories to share.

Everything either dries, leaks, or grows in an unnatural direction.

I now make choices because they are “practical”…I hate practical…

Getting “lucky” means finding a great parking spot.

I miss my knees.

In answer to the question, “If you could spend the day with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”   I want to spend the first half of the day with my children when they were young and the second half with my grandchildren, also when they were little. It would be too strange to have them all together! If my mother was there it would just be icing on the cake!

One of the greatest mysteries of life is this; no matter how much the body may age, the spirit stays young.

Don’t live with worry or regrets…they will both rob the joy of today.

I would do anything to keep my youth and health except exercise and eat right.

I miss being able to get up from the floor…and chairs.

I wish I had climbed more mountains, learned to play the saxophone, written more, tried hang gliding, and learned several languages.

I miss so many I loved dearly that are no longer physically here.

The greatest accomplishment of my life is my children and their children…and other’s children who adopted me along the way.

The older I become, the less I worry. When I look back on the concerns of my past, I realize that God was always there and everything worked exactly as it should. He had me in the past and He has me in the future…no reason to worry.

I decided decades ago that I was going to live until I was 84. As I grow closer to that age I may have to renegotiate.

I’ll grow old tomorrow.

The beauty of old friends is not that they love you, but they know you. They know the houses you lived in, and relationships you walked away from. Some were there before your children and others played an important part in your children’s life. They not only know where the bodies are buried…they helped make it happen. They giggle with you until there are tears, and they cry with you until you laugh again.

Why is it when you look at pictures of your youth and middle age you realize you were pretty, yet can never accept it in the present? My advice to you is to appreciate your beauty at every stage.

For the rest of your life; at this moment, you are as young as you will ever be.

FOOD

Italian Cod Filets

Ingredients

4 cod filets

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. olive oil

Small onion, diced

1 can petite diced tomatoes

Tsp. Italian seasoning

2 T capers, minced

2 T fresh lemon juice

Directions

Add oil to large pan over medium high heat. Dry cod, then salt, pepper and dredge in flour. Add to pan and cook on both sides until done, about 3-4 minutes per side. Keep warm while you prepare sauce. In same pan sauté onion on medium heat. After onion begins to soften, add salt, pepper to taste and Italian seasoning. Stir for one minute then add tomatoes. Cook for two minutes while flavors mingle and sauce thickens. Add capers, stir in lemon juice and continue cooking at a simmer until desired thickness. Serve over warm fish. This is great served with rice and broccoli.