Old is in the Eye of the Beholder

I went to get my hair cut today, and the woman with the appointment just before mine had a precious newborn - well, he was 5 weeks old, but that's young enough to still have the newborn cry. I was telling her how cute he is and commented that it's sometimes hard to believe my kids were that little. She responded with one question.

"Do you have grandkids?"

Asking someone if they have grandkids when you've just met them ranks almost as high on the "foot in mouth" disease scale as asking a woman if she's pregnant. I don't recommend it!

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Speaking of aging, I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my brother will turn 60 tomorrow. Sixty. (He's not too crazy about it, either!) While 60 is definitely getting younger every day, it just sounds weird. Especially since I'm "just" in my 40s.

Happy Birthday to my old geezer brother.

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When I was growing up, my mom taught a Sunday School class of women who were mostly 35-40 years old. I always thought it weird when my mom would say "A girl in my SS class." Those were women, not girls, to my not-even-teenaged mind!

Now, of course, I get it. And my girl has a similar reaction if I call a friend a girl. It just sounds so weird to say "a woman" or "a lady" about someone who is my age.

And apparently, it won't get any easier. I laughed when, a year or two before she died, my mom mentioned another resident at the assisted living facility and called her a girl. "Mother, she's 80 years old!" I said. My mom did acknowledge that indeed, she could no longer be considered a girl.

But she had the same reaction to living there as every other adult I've known in a similar situation. "This is a nice place to live, but there sure are a lot of old people."

"And some of those "old people" are younger than you, Mother."



Please pass the Geritol.

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